People: Matt Dillon visits Rohingya refugees
American actor Matt Dillon put a rare star-powered spotlight on Myanmar’s long-persecuted Rohingya Muslims, visiting a hot, squalid camp for tens of thousands displaced by violence and a port that has been one of the main launching pads for their exodus by sea.
It was “heartbreaking,” he said after meeting a young man with a raw, open leg wound from a road accident and no means to treat it.
Mothers carrying babies with clear signs of malnutrition stood listlessly outside row after row of identical bamboo huts, toddlers playing nearby in the chalky white dust.
“No one should have to live like this, people are really suffering,” said Dillon, one of the first celebrities to get a look at what life is like for Rohingya in the western state of Rakhine. “They are being strangled slowly, they have no hope for the future and nowhere to go.”
“I’ve been to some places where the threats of violence seemed more imminent,” said Dillon, who has also visited refugee camps in Sudan, the Congo and elsewhere. “Here it’s something else. It feels more like people are going to be left to wither away and die.”
Dillon said he decided to come to Myanmar following a desperate, urgent appeal by Rohingya activist Thun Khin at a Refugees International fundraiser in Washington, just over a month ago.
“There are people working here, people who know a hell of a lot more about it than I do,” Dillon said after hearing grumbling from some aid workers about what he hoped to achieve. “But listen, if I can use my voice to draw attention to something, where I see people suffering, I’ll do that any day of the week. I’m happy to do that.”
Shatner to travel across U.S. on trike
William Shatner will boldly travel across the U.S. on a three-wheeled motorcycle.
The “Star Trek” star announced plans Monday for the cross-country mission to promote his custom trike and raise awareness about the American Legion.
“I am taking another step into the unknown,” the 84-year-old actor said in a statement.
Shatner partnered with motorcycle builder American Wrench to create the Rivet motorcycle. The Aurora, Illinois-based company said the silver-studded bike is inspired by the B-17 bomber.
The eight-day journey will launch June 23 outside Chicago and arrive June 30 in Los Angeles.
Shatner will be joined on the 2,400-mile ride by members of the American Legion and American Wrench crew. The company is planning to sell limited quantities of Shatner’s trike.
The birthday bunch
Actor Stacy Keach is 74. Actor Jerry Mathers (“Leave It to Beaver”) is 67. Actress Joanna Gleason is 65. Comedian Dana Carvey is 60. Comedian Wayne Brady is 43. Actor Zachary Quinto is 38. Actor Justin Long is 37.