Angelina Jolie has called on the international community to get to the bottom of the global refugee crisis. She has asked world leaders to continue their efforts in helping families and kids who have been greatly affected by the ongoing civil war in Syria.
During a press conference at a Syrian refugee camp on Tuesday, the multiaward-winning actress and special envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said the international community should delve deeper into the root cause of the conflict, ABC News reported.
"We cannot manage the world through aid relief in the place of diplomacy and political solutions," Jolie claimed. "We should never forget that for all the focus on the refugee situation in Europe at this time, the greatest pressure is still being felt in the Middle East and North Africa, as it has for each of the last five years."
Roughly 23 million Syrians have been displaced since the war broke out in 2011. Over five million have left the Middle Eastern country to seek solace in neighboring nations such as Turkey, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon. Thousands of Syrians refugees are now camping at the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon, the country's most fertile farming hotspot.
Jolie hoped she would be helping refugees build back their homes on the fifth anniversary of the nationwide protest against President Bashar Assad. However, she lamented to Us Weekly that the present conditions in Syria are so far-off from what she expected. She dubbed the slow progress as both shameful and tragic.
"After five years of exile, any savings they had have been exhausted," she said, referring to displaced Syrians. "Many who started out living in apartments now cluster in abandoned shopping centers, or informal tented settlements, sinking deeper into debt."
As per the latest data from UNHCR, the Middle Eastern conflict has affected Syrian children more than any other demographic. Approximately 27 percent of all male Syrian refugees are 17 years old or under while 25 percent of all female Syrian refugees are not older than 18.
