Angelina Jolie

The Philippine army has been fighting twin insurgencies since the late 1960s. They have had to deal with communist insurgents and muslim separatists that have killed 160,000 people and displaced over 2 million people. They have stunted economic growth in the country. A leftist farmers group in the Philippines has asked the United Nations to send Angelina Jolie to help them.

The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (Movement of Farmers in the Philippines) has sent a letter to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees to look at the worsening refugee situation in the country, its leader Willy Marbella said on Friday.

“Since June 2005, we have been asking the chair of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, to look into this and send Angelina Jolie to see the real situation of internally displaced people in the country,” Marbella told reporters.

“Hundreds of people are being forced out of their homes and farms every month.”

Jolie has been a UNHRC goodwill ambassador since early 2001.

The KMP wants Jolie to witness “the real situation of internally displaced people in the country,” KMP officer Willy Marbella said in a statement Friday.

More than 10,000 people have been forced to leave their homes this year alone because of increased military actions and threats, he said.

The military blames insurgents for the problem. It is battling communist rebels, who have been fighting for a Maoist-led state for 39 years, and the 11,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front that has been struggling for two decades for self-rule in the southern Philippines.

This group has been asking for help from the UN since 2005 - I don’t think the UN is falling all over themselves to help. After all, this is a serious and dangerous problem. The muslims in the Philippines mean business. This is the kind of sticky situation I don’t think the UN is all that interested in getting involved in. I can’t imagine a hollywood star being interested in going to such a dangerous place. Usually they arrive after to the danger - or stay as far away from it as possible.

I will say that if Jolie can go to the Philippines and come up with a way to end the struggle between the communists, the muslim separatists and the people who want to live free then she’ll deserve all the credit. Do you think Angelina Jolie will be running for President any time soon? Or is sainthood in her future?

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Thank to William Teach for referring to this post at Right Wing News - Global Warming Today: Bali Vacations Continue.