London
(ANI):
American
actress
Angelina
Jolie
has
earned
herself
the
ire
of
the
Thai
government
after
she
commented
on
the
plight
of
Myanmar
migrants.
Jolie
and
brad
pitt
had
visited
a
refugee
camp
on
the
Thai-Myanmar
border
last
week,
as
part
of
her
role
as
a
goodwill
ambassador
for
the
United
Nations
(U.N.),
and
the
migrants
there
told
her
that
the
Thai
military
was
mistreating
them.
Upon
hearing
their
story,
Jolie
issued
an
emotive
plea
to
the
Thai
government
urging
the
authorities
to
respect
the
rights
of
the
Rohingya,
a
Muslim
ethnic
group
from
Myanmar.
In
her
plea
the
Tomb
Raider
star
asked
the
Thai
government
to
be
'just
as
generous
to
the
Rohingya
refugees
who
are
now
arriving
on
their
shores'
as
they
were
to
the
Ban
Mai
Nai
Soi
camp's,
18,000
other
refugees
from
Myanmar.
The
Thai
army
has
been
accused
of
detaining
and
torturing
hundreds
of
Rohingya
who,
in
recent
months,
fled
to
Thailand
to
escape
poverty
in
Myanmar.
But
now
Jolie
has
been
reprimanded
by
Thai
officials
for
her
comments,
and
they
have
stated
that
the
United
Nations
refugee
agency
should
not
have
allowed
her
to
visit
the
centre.
"Angelina
was
not
focused
on
the
Rohingya,
but
was
visiting
Myanmar
refugee
camps," the
Daily
Express
quoted
Virasakdi
Futrakul,
permanent
secretary
of
the
Thai
foreign
ministry,
as
saying.
"It
was
a
coincidence
that
the
Rohingya
was
a
hot
news
issue
at
the
time,
therefore
we
must
warn
(U.N.
refugee
agency)
UNHCR
that
they
should
not
comment
on
this
issue
because
they
have
no
mandate
on
this
issue.
The
Thai
government
will
issue
a
reprimand
letter
to
UNHCR
asking
why
it
allowed
Angelina
Jolie
to
visit
the
refugee
camps," he
added.
A
representative
for
UNHCR
claims
that
the
Thai
Ministry
of
Interior
issued
camp
passes
for
both
Jolie
and
Pitt.