Angelina In Iraq
Well it looks like we were wrong. Angelina wasn’t headed to Jordan but to Iraq. She touched down today in Iraq to highlight the plight of refugees. Angie’s trip included a visit with Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Angie is concerned that there is no concrete plan for the nearly 2 million internal refugees. An internal refugee is one that has been displaced their own country or territory. Think Katrina victims who were forced to move after New Orleans flooded.
“There are over two million displaced people and there never seems to be a real coherent plan to help them,” she said. “There’s lots of goodwill and lots of discussion, but there seems to be just a lot of talk at the moment.”
“I don’t have the answers, but I know this is one thing that needs to be addressed and solved. (There needs) to be a real presence here to help count the people and register the people,” she added.
She’s is very concerned with refugee children.
“Of the two million internally displaced, it’s estimated 58 percent are under 12 years old. It’s a very high number of people in a very, very vulnerable situation and a lot of young kids.”
“So far, the different US officials I met with and different local people I’ve met with all have shared concerns, very, very strongly. They have spoken out about the humanitarian crisis, but there seems to be a block in.
“I don’t have the answers, but I know this is one thing that needs to be addressed and solved. (There needs) to be a real presence here to help count the people and register the people,” she added.
She believes refugee crisis will affect the entire Middle East.
“And a big part of what it’s going to affect,” she said, “is how these people are returned and settled into their homes and their community and brought back together and whether they can live together and what their communities look like.”
The UHCR hasn’t been able to aid refugees due to rampant violence outside of Iraq’s green zone. Angie even took the time to have an…institutional meal with the troops. She’s really taking bullet for the cause there.
Click HERE for video of Angelina eating with troops.
Click HERE for Angelina’s CNN interview.
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