Refugee plight 'shames us all' - Angelina Jolie

The UN refugee agency's special envoy Angelina Jolie on Tuesday visited camps in Bangladesh for Muslim Rohingya refugees from Myanmar and condemned the world's failure to prevent a crisis that saw 730,000 people driven from their homes.

The Hollywood star addressed a crowd of refugees on a hilltop in Kutapalong camp, the world’s largest refugee settlement, in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar district.

Jolie said she was "humbled and proud to stand with you today".

"You have every right not to be stateless and the way you have been treated shames us all," said Jolie, adding the crisis was the result of decades of discrimination that had gone unaddressed.

"What is most tragic about this situation is that we cannot say we had no warning."

Jolie's visit came as the United Nations said it was preparing to launch a new appeal for $920 million to support the refugees, who fled a brutal military crackdown in Rakhine state of Myanmar.

'Genocidal intent'

UN investigators have accused Myanmar’s army of carrying out mass killings and rapes with "genocidal intent" during the massive offensive that laid waste to hundreds of Rohingya villages in the western Rakhine state.

Myanmar denies the charge and says its offensive was a legitimate response to an insurgent threat and has pledged to welcome the refugees back.

But the UN says conditions are not yet right for their return. The Rohingya people say they want guarantees about their safety and to be recognised as citizens before returning.

Jolie said she had met stateless Rohingya who described being "treated like cattle" in Myanmar.

"I met a woman yesterday, a survivor of rape in Myanmar, and she told me 'you would have to shoot me where I stand before I would go back to Myanmar'," Jolie said.