Angelina Jolie meets IS victims in Iraq

Hollywood actor urges world leaders to do more to end ongoing conflict in Syria and Iraq

Actor and UN High Commissioner for Refugees Angelina Jolie called on world leaders to do more to bring an end to the ongoing conflict in Syria and Iraq. 

Jolie is on an official, two-day United Nations trip to Kurdistan and visited a refugee camp where she was met with smiles and warm greetings from survivors of Islamic State attacks, according to the Daily Mail.

The camp is currently home to tens of thousands of Yazidis and other refugees who have been forced to abandon their homes in Mosul following attacks by the militant group Islamic State who have taken over swathes of Syria and Iraq.

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.

The 39-year-old actor 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.

“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 said.

“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,” Jolie added.

The Hollywood star spent her first day in Iraq visiting Yazidi refugees and touring their camp.

“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).

'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.

Jolie 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.

The actor appealed to anyone listening to work together to end the suffering, so that people can return to their homes in Iraq and Syria.

“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.”