MOSCOW, January 26 (Sputnik) – Angelina Jolie is on a two day tour to the autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq where she met victims of the Islamic State. The Khanke refugee camp is currently home to tens of thousands of Yazidis and other refugees who have been forced to abandon their homes as the Islamic State took over, reports ANI.
Special Envoy Angelina Jolie meets displaced Iraqis living in an abandoned school in Al Qosh Iraq by @mcconnellandrew pic.twitter.com/DFJXl2UJVl
— UN Refugee Agency (@Refugees) 26 января 2015
The star, who is a UNHCR Special Envoy, met with families living in refugee camps, took a tour of the nearby area and gave a speech to the hundreds of refugees and politicians who had gathered to greet her.
“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.”
She expressed despair over the horror of survivors who had been kidnapped and abused, stressing the immediate help these people need and deserve. She also said that she met with parents whose children had been kidnapped by the Islamic State and she could not imagine a greater horror than losing a child.
"As a parent, I can not imagine a greater horror" Special Envoy Angelina Jolie speaking yesterday in Northern Iraq https://t.co/8oBS3eeZ16
— UN Refugee Agency (@Refugees) 26 января 2015
“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.”
Jolie made an urgent plea to members of the international community during her visit to Khanke camp.