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Angelina Jolie appeals for more aid to help Syrian refugees

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ANGELINA JolieUrging the international community to scale up aid to Syrian refugees, Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie, Special Envoy for the United Nations refugee agency, today said that the two-year conflict in Syria had sparked “the worst humanitarian crisis of the 21st century.”

“The international response to this crisis falls far short of the vast scale of this human tragedy,” declared Ms. Jolie, who travelled to the Jordan-Syria border to sound the alarm about the staggering number of people forced to their flee their homes – estimated by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) at some 1.6 million, 540,000 of whom are in Jordan.

Along with Jordan, other countries hosting refugees sparked by two years of fighting between the Syrian Government and forces seeking to oust President Bashar Al-Assad include Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. UNHCR estimates that the number of refugees could reach almost 3.5 million by the end of this year.

The conflict has also left more than 93,000 people dead and another 6.8 million in need of humanitarian assistance. Earlier this month, UNHCR updated the amount of funds needed for the Syria Regional Response Plan to almost $3 billion for international agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). An additional $830 million is needed for the Governments of Jordan and Lebanon.

Making her visit to the region just ahead of World Refugee Day, marked annually on 20 June, Ms. Jolie listened to the stories of men, women and children who had fled Syria just hours before. In a press release, the agency said that the envoy arrived in the country yesterday with UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres.

Mr. Guterres started his visit to the region in Lebanon, where he met with refugees and Government officials. In Jordan, he and Ms. Jolie plan to meet with Government representatives and refugees living in Jordan’s cities, as well as in the sprawling Za’atari refugee camp.

“Much more humanitarian aid is needed, and above all, a political settlement to this conflict must be found,” Ms. Jolie said, urging the world to do much more to help the people of Syria.

UN.org

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2 responses to “Angelina Jolie appeals for more aid to help Syrian refugees”

  1. 5thDrawer Avatar
    5thDrawer

    Dear Angelina. Yours is not the only voice crying in the wilderness. And Syria has only added to a world in shit – with too many people … AND too many people in it already in ‘conflicts’.
    Here’s some astounding FACTUAL numbers.
    —————
    The UN says 7.6 million people became refugees in 2012, with the total number now higher than at any time since 1994. Syria is only a major new factor driving it higher.
    The report says 55% of all refugees come from five countries: Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq, Sudan and Syria.
    It also found that developing countries now hosted 81% of the world’s refugees, 11% more than a decade ago.
    “These truly are alarming numbers. They reflect individual suffering on a huge scale and they reflect the difficulties of the international community in preventing conflicts and promoting timely solutions for them,” said UNHCR chief Antonio Guterres.
    Mr Guterres said that the figure of 7.6 million meant there was a new displaced person every 4.1 seconds. “Each time you blink another person is forced to flee,” he said.

    The UNHCR says the figures are based on data from the agency itself as well as from governments and other NGOs.
    Afghanistan remained the world’s biggest source of refugees, a position it has now held for 32 years, with 95% of Afghan refugees located in either Iran or Pakistan.
    Somalis were the second biggest group of refugees in 2012, followed by Iraqis. Syrians were the fourth biggest group.
    The figures do not, however, reflect the additional one million people who have fled Syria in the last six months.
    The UN says if current trends persist, a further two million people will have left Syria by the end of this year. In the next few days it is expected to ask European countries to take at least some of them in.
    The report also says there has been a marked rise in displacement from Mali and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
    Mali’s army, heavily backed by France, has been fighting Islamist and ethnic Tuareg rebels this year. Islamists seized control of the north of the country after a military coup last year.
    In the Democratic Republic of Congo, some 800,000 people have fled since fighting broke out last year between government forces and the M23 rebel movement.

    ———–
    As we know, the numbers do not include people who are virtual refugees in their own countries (like the poor disenfranchised in Tripoli – and recently even the under-paid hospitals there still pulling out bullets) who get no ‘aid-inclusion’ because they are not ‘technically’ refugees.
    Angelina has no better idea of how to stop the killing than anyone else – even if her heart is in the right place in trying to prevent starvation and suffering.

  2. 5thDrawer Avatar
    5thDrawer

    Dear Angelina. Yours is not the only voice crying in the wilderness. And Syria has only added to a world in shit – with too many people … AND too many people in it already in ‘conflicts’.
    Here’s some astounding FACTUAL numbers.
    —————
    The UN says 7.6 million people became refugees in 2012, with the total number now higher than at any time since 1994. Syria is only a major new factor driving it higher.
    The report says 55% of all refugees come from five countries: Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq, Sudan and Syria.
    It also found that developing countries now hosted 81% of the world’s refugees, 11% more than a decade ago.
    “These truly are alarming numbers. They reflect individual suffering on a huge scale and they reflect the difficulties of the international community in preventing conflicts and promoting timely solutions for them,” said UNHCR chief Antonio Guterres.
    Mr Guterres said that the figure of 7.6 million meant there was a new displaced person every 4.1 seconds. “Each time you blink another person is forced to flee,” he said.

    The UNHCR says the figures are based on data from the agency itself as well as from governments and other NGOs.
    Afghanistan remained the world’s biggest source of refugees, a position it has now held for 32 years, with 95% of Afghan refugees located in either Iran or Pakistan.
    Somalis were the second biggest group of refugees in 2012, followed by Iraqis. Syrians were the fourth biggest group.
    The figures do not, however, reflect the additional one million people who have fled Syria in the last six months.
    The UN says if current trends persist, a further two million people will have left Syria by the end of this year. In the next few days it is expected to ask European countries to take at least some of them in.
    The report also says there has been a marked rise in displacement from Mali and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
    Mali’s army, heavily backed by France, has been fighting Islamist and ethnic Tuareg rebels this year. Islamists seized control of the north of the country after a military coup last year.
    In the Democratic Republic of Congo, some 800,000 people have fled since fighting broke out last year between government forces and the M23 rebel movement.

    ———–
    As we know, the numbers do not include people who are virtual refugees in their own countries (like the poor disenfranchised in Tripoli – and recently even the under-paid hospitals there still pulling out bullets) who get no ‘aid-inclusion’ because they are not ‘technically’ refugees.
    Angelina has no better idea of how to stop the killing than anyone else – even if her heart is in the right place in trying to prevent starvation and suffering.

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