Angelina Jolie Visits Syrian Refugees in Jordan
  • 12 years ago
The actress is also a UN Special Envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, accompanied Jolie during the trip. She, in turn, spoke of some of the "horrific" and "emotional" stories that the refugees had shared.

[Angelina Jolie, UNHCR Special Envoy]:
"Little children, I asked what they saw, and they described body parts separated and burnt people being pulled apart like chicken. That's a little nine-year-old girl that said that."

According to the UNHCR, the camp near the border with Syria has received some 28,000 refugees since opening on July 29. As of September 10th, over 250,000 total Syrian refugees have been registered or are awaiting registration in the region, a result of a civil war with no end in sight.

[Angelina Jolie, UNHCR Special Envoy]:
"The people of Syria are asking who is on their side? Who is on our side? Who is going to help us? Because they say as the months go on, there will be no more of us, our homes are gone, our families are gone. It is a horrific situation and a very critical time."

The Academy Award-winning actress and the UNHCR are seeking to raise awareness of the refugee situation coming from Syria. They are calling on the international community to aid Jordan with the large numbers constantly streaming across the border.

[António Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees]:
"It really breaks my heart to see Syrians today forced to flee sometimes in extremely traumatic situations and to see them as refugees here in Jordan. Now, this camp is of course like all other camps in the world, a difficult place to live. And my appeal to the international community is to help us and to help the Jordanian government."

Following the visit to the camps, Guterres and Jolie will meet with King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein of Jordan.