Angelina Jolie has taken her humanitarian efforts to Syria and Iraq in an attempt to draw attention to the struggles of refugees in the war-torn regions.
The actress has been a Goodwill Ambassador for United Nations Refugee Agency UNHCR for more than six years, traveling to numerous poverty-stricken locales and refugee camps around the globe.
On Monday, she flew from New York to Syria, where she visited a UNHCR registration center in the capital city of Damascus. While there, she spent hours talking to Iraqi refugees in their homes.
On Tuesday, Jolie crossed over into Iraq to visit with refugees, along with U.S. troops and other Multi-National Forces based in the area.
“I have come to Syria and Iraq to help draw attention to this humanitarian crisis and to urge governments to increase their support for UNHCR and its partners,” Jolie said in a statement. “My sole purpose in both countries is to highlight the plight of those uprooted by the war in Iraq.”
UNHCR estimates that more than 4.2 million Iraqis have left their homes — 2 millionto neighboring states and another 2.2 million displaced inside Iraq.
After visiting a makeshift camp of 1,200 refugees unable to flee Iraq, Jolie spoke of the urgent need for change.
“It is absolutely essential that the ongoing debate about Iraq’s future includes plans for addressing the enormous humanitarian consequences these people face,” Jolie said.
Jolie’s trip came just two days after hosting a fundraising dinner with partner Brad Pitt in the Hamptons, benefiting Pitt’s Make it Right campaign to build environmentally friendly homes in New Orleans’ hurricane-ravaged Lower Ninth Ward.
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