Yahoo Lifestyle Angelina Jolie Pens Moving Piece On European Refugee Crisis
Angelina Jolie, Special envoy of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees is urging leaders to prioritise families fleeing war over economic migrants. Photo: Getty Images
In conjunction with Baroness Arminka Helic, Angelina Jolie has written an opinion piece for The Times urging the UK government to prioritise families fleeing war stricken countries over economic migrants in order for Europe to get a grip on the refugee crisis.
The pair is appealing for leaders to address the conflict in Syria and to distinguish those who are "facing an immediate need to be saved from persecution and death" as well as calling for long-term solutions.
"The Syria conflict has created a wave of human suffering that has rolled out across the region and now reached the shores of Europe,” reads the piece. “Syrians are fleeing barrel bombs, chemical weapons, rape and massacres. Their country has become a killing field."
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"It should come as no surprise that people who have endured years of war, or who have been living in refugee camps on dwindling rations, are taking matters into their own hands. How many of us could honestly say that in their shoes we would not do the same, confronted by fear, lack of hope, and a glaring lack of international political will to end the conflict."
Jolie, who is special envoy of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, urges leaders to use recent events as a 'turning point' not just for the conflict in Syria but the global refugee crisis as a whole.
"It requires us to use not just our hearts but also our heads and not just aid but also diplomacy, and to focus our efforts not just this year, but for years to come."
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"We cannot donate our way out of the crisis, we cannot solve it simply by taking in refugees, we have to find a diplomatic route to end the conflict."
"Nothing tells us more about the state of the world than the movement of people across borders. It is time to look for long-term solutions and to recognise that governments, not refugees, have to provide the answer."
"The way we respond now will confirm what kind of countries we are, the depth of our humanity and the strength of our democracies."
