Angelina Jolie has called on the world’s leaders to do more to bring an end to the conflict in Syria and Iraq. The actress made the comments in her role as special envoy of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, while visiting a Kurdish refugee camp in Dohuk, northern Iraq, earlier today. The camp is currently home to tens of thousands of Yazidis and other refugees who have been forced to abandon their homes in Mosul, which has been invaded by the Islamic State.
More than a million refugees are now living in the region as a result of the Syrian civil war and ISIS overtaking large swathes of Iraq.
Angelina, 39, met with families living in makeshift homes, took a tour of the nearby area and gave a speech to the hundreds of refugees and politicians who had gathered to catch a glimpse of the star.
Angelina said: ‘Since I was last here in Iraq, another two million people have been forced from their homes. Mostly in the last six months – this time Iraqi citizens.’
‘Too many innocent people are paying the price of the conflict in Syria and spread of extremism. The international community has to step up and do more.
‘It is not enough to defend our values at home. We have to defend them here, in the camps and in the informal settlements across the Middle East, and in the ruined towns of Iraq and Syria. We are being tested here, as an international community, and so far – for all the immense efforts and good intentions – we are failing,’ she said at a press conference at the Khanke Camp for Internally Displaced People (IDPs).
The Hollywood star spent her first day in Iraq visiting with Yazidi refugees and touring their camp. Among the ISIS victims she met were a group of elderly women who were among nearly 200 Yazidis recently released by insurgents.
‘Nothing can prepare you for the horrific stories of these survivors of kidnap, abuse and exploitation and to see how they cannot all get the urgent help they need and deserve.
‘Children whose parents were murdered and are now here unaccompanied – a 19 year old working and being the sole provider for his seven siblings.
‘I have met mothers whose children have been kidnapped by ISIL. As a parent, I couldn’t imagine a greater horror. They are overwhelmed by thoughts of what is happening to their children,’ Angelina said.
She has visited the Middle East several times as part of her job at the UN and has visited the Kurdistan region of Iraq in 2012, when she visited another refugee camp in Erbil.
She has also been a regular visitor to war-torn parts of Africa as part of her campaign with former British Foreign Secretary William Hague to bring an end to rape being used as a tool of war.
Today, she appealed to anyone listening to work together to end the suffering, so that people can return to their homes in Iraq and Syria.
Angelina said: ‘The spill-over from the Syria conflict has been devastating. The brutality of the conflict and speed and scale of the displacement has shocked the world. Help has come, but not nearly enough.’
Mailonline
UM– USEKE.RW
