Angelina Jolie denounced sexual violence against Rohingya refugee women in Myanmar's Rakhine state, where a military operation has forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee to Bangladesh's border region. More than 600,000 Rohingyas have fled Myanmar since late August. They were forced to leave home by a military action called by a UN official as a classic example of "ethnic cleansing." Jolie, who now serves as UN special envoy of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), told a Bangladeshi delegate in the town of Vancoucer, Canada, she would visit the women of the Rohingya who were victims of sexual violence."In his speech he mentioned the sexual violence suffered by almost all Rohingya women who fled to Bangladesh and also condemned the armed conflict in Myanmar," the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
The ministry does not explain further when Jolie will visit the refugees. On Thursday, human rights defender Human Rights Watch accused Myanmar of committing mass rape of women and young women as part of an ethnic cleansing operation. A similar allegation was also made this week by Pranila Patten, UN special envoy for sexual violence in the conflict. He said that sexual violence in Myanmar is a "commanded, planned, and carried out operation by the Myanmar Armed Forces."On the other hand, Myanmar's army on Monday broadcast a report denying allegations of rape and murder by the armed forces. The report was published several days after the government replaced the general who led the operation in Rakhine. On Wednesday in front of MPs, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said it could overcome the crisis of Rohingya refugees with help from the international community. "I am very confident that we can achieve a peaceful solution to this historic crisis with the help of the international community," he said. Before the mass exodus since late August, Bangladesh has hosted 300,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar.
