ANGELINA JOLIE has been urged by Filipino farmers to visit their country to check on the rising number of people displaced by army offensives in rural areas.
The Hollywood star - a goodwill ambassador to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) - is being called upon to use her celebrity status to raise global awareness on the issue.

Since the late 1960s, the Filipino army has been fighting communist insurgents and Muslim separatists in twin insurgencies that have killed 160,000 people, displaced over two million and stunted economic growth in the country.

The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (Movement of Farmers in the Philippines) has now 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 (07Dec07), "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.

"Hundreds of people are being forced out of their homes and farms every month." Jolie has not yet confirmed whether she will make the visit.