Rather than spend Sunday evening attending the red carpet ceremonies at 2015’s Screen Actors Guild Awards, Unbroken director Angelina Jolie instead opted to visit northern Iraq, where she urged world leaders to take action against ISIS.
As special envoy of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Jolie toured Khanke Camp for Internally Displaced People in Dohuk, northern Iraq, a site that currently houses tens of thousands of exiled families, who were forced to abandon their homes in Mosul after an invasion of the Islamic State.
After meeting with families, Jolie took a tour of the nearby area, before giving a speech to hundreds of refugees and politicians who had gathered to see her.
Jolie asked world leaders to work together to stop the Islamic State:
We are here to appeal for more assistance for all of the people here, especially the most vulnerable and victims of abuse.
…This is a giant international crisis and it needs giant international aid and attention.
…It is past time for leaders on all sides to find a common ground and a way to move forward
…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, the international community is failing.
…As long as ISIS is able to be as strong as it is, these people are in danger and more people unfortunately will be kidnapped and harmed.
More than one million refugees are currently living in the region as a result of the Syrian civil war and ISIS’ invasion of large parts of Iraq.
Watch Jolie’s entire comments below:
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