Hollywood star Angelina Jolie visited a Myanmar refugee camp in Mae Hong Son province Friday to call awareness to the world’s refugee problems.
On World Refugee Day, Jolie took a trip up north to discuss the lives of Myanmar refugees in Ban Mai Nai Soi camp as Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
“Preventing armed conflict should be a collective responsibility of the international community,” Jolie said. “This staggering surge in refugee numbers shows that the world is failing to meet that responsibility. This is an unjust and unsustainable situation. The only answer is to devote greater efforts and resources to addressing conflict worldwide – there are no humanitarian solutions to political problems.”
Ban Mai Nai Soi shelters 11,890 refugees of the Karen ethnic group fleeing fighting in Myanmar. Another camp nearby at Ban Mae Surin in Khun Yuam district houses another 3,114.
An estimated 120,000 Myanmar refugees live in nine border camps in Thailand today, some for as long as 30 years.
Jolie reportedly left from Chiang Mai airport to an unknown location Friday night on her private jet, UNHCR and Bangkok Post reported.
Photo: UNHCR
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