Humanitarian Jolie on Syrian plight

Actor appeals to UN Security Council to facilitate distraught refugees


Reuters April 26, 2015
Jolie feels now is the time to arise from indecision and be of service to the innocent. PHOTO: REUTERS

NEW YORK: The United Nations aid chief on Friday urged the Security Council to impose an arms embargo and sanctions in Syria for violations of humanitarian law, as special envoy Angelina Jolie pleaded with council members to visit millions of Syrian refugees.

Actor-director Jolie, a special envoy of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, appealed for unity and accountability for some four million Syrian refugees. She has made 11 visits to Syrian refugees in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Malta. “We cannot look at Syria and the evil that has arisen from the ashes of indecision, and think this is not the lowest point in the world’s ability to protect and defend the innocent,” Jolie told the 15-member Security Council.

The UN says about 440,000 people are besieged in Syria’s civil war, now in its fifth year. Of those, 167,500 are trapped by government forces, 228,000 by Islamic State militants and the rest by other armed groups. The UN says some 220,000 people have been killed and an estimated 7.6 million are internally displaced. “Those refugees cannot come to this council, so please, will you go to them?” said Jolie, who also berated the council for failing to overcome divisions to end the war. 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 26th, 2015.

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