Angelina Jolie +

Angelina Jolie visits Tunisia-Libya border, urges support for Libya’s displaced

UNHCR
RAS ADJIR, Tunisia, April 5 (UNHCR) – UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie on Tuesday travelled to the Tunisian-Libyan border to urge greater international support for people fleeing fighting in Libya.

Almost 440,000 people have escaped the violence in Libya since mid-February, finding shelter in surrounding countries such as Tunisia, Egypt, Niger, Algeria, Chad and Sudan. Tunisia, alone, has received about 217,000 of the outflow from Libya and has mobilized an outstanding relief operation.

“The outpouring of generosity from the Tunisian people says so much for the future of this country,” said Jolie. “It is a sign of the openness sweeping across the region.”

At the end of February, transit facilities were erected a few kilometres inside Tunisia to provide temporary shelter for those crossing the border, mostly migrant workers. At the same time, UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) began helping migrants home with a massive humanitarian air evacuation.

Today, more than 70,000 people have been repatriated safely with help from UNHCR and IOM, but more continue to arrive. Some 11,000 third country nationals are still in transit.

“The international community has done well to reinforce Tunisia’s remarkable relief effort,” said Jolie. “But with 2,000 people still crossing each day, we cannot let the funding dry up and need to sustain the momentum.”

During the visit, an important contribution is being made by the Jolie-Pitt Foundation to help sustain the humanitarian evacuations being carried out. The Foundation covered the costs for a flight of 177 people to return to their countries of origin and purchased an ambulance to help support Tunisian efforts on the border to assist the injured arriving from Libya.

“We would encourage others, individuals and governments, to continue to support and assist with the needs on the ground,” said Jolie, an acclaimed and popular actress.

“While migrants make up the majority of these new arrivals, there are also some 2,500 people from war-torn countries who are unable to return home and thus require international protection. “They’re waiting here with little hope, unable to return home and unsure of what’s to come. This constant cycle of displacement must finally come to an end,” the Goodwill Ambassador said.

In conversations on Tuesday with people who had recently left Libya, Jolie was told of heavy fighting inside the country. She listened to harrowing stories of checkpoints, harassment and assaults. She appealed for measures that would allow the UN and non-governmental organizations to access Libya, and to distribute urgent assistance, including food and medical supplies.

Jolie also heard dramatic accounts of eastern and sub-Saharan Africans being deliberately targeted inside Libya. Many remain in hiding in desperate conditions, unable to move for fear of violence. Jolie called for a humanitarian corridor to facilitate the safe access of these populations to points of refuge.

Without this corridor, thousands of Africans are escaping Libya by sea, relying on unseaworthy vessels organized by smugglers. In recent weeks, there have been several landings on the small Italian island of Lampedusa as well as interceptions off the coast of Tunisia. There are also reports of some people not surviving the perilous journey across the Mediterranean.

KABUL, Afghanistan, March 2 (UNHCR) – UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie on Wednesday called for greater focus to be put on the reintegration of former Afghan refugees as she wrapped up her second visit to the western Asian nation.

During her two-day trip, the acclaimed actress met internally displaced people and refugee returnees still struggling to survive and reintegrate almost 10 years after returning to Afghanistan from years of exile.

More than 5.5 million refugees have returned since 2002, mainly from Pakistan and Iran, and now make up 20 per cent of the population. UNHCR is concerned that too many of these former refugees continue to live without jobs, shelter and other basic needs.

“It’s clear travelling through the country that what needs to be done is a very focused approach in places of return. We need to revisit the idea of what return is and the difference between just returning and reintegrating,” said Jolie, who last visited Afghanistan for UNHCR in 2008.

“The focus needs to be put now on reintegration, and that means not just putting up shelter but making sure there is water, job opportunities, a school for the children and medical clinics,” she added.

On Wednesday, Jolie returned to visit families living in a dilapidated warehouse in Kabul that once served as a storage facility for the national bus company. The Tamir Mili Bus depot is now one of 30 UNHCR-identified sites in the Afghan capital where returned refugees and internally displaced people can live while they eke out a living.

The Goodwill Ambassador caught up again with Khanum Gul in the small damp room she shares with her husband and eight children. A UNHCR plastic tarpaulin covered a gaping hole in the front wall, providing some shelter from the wind and snow. On Jolie’s first visit in 2008, Khanum had just given birth to her son Samir.

“It was very distressing to see that, because of the poor conditions, Samir seems to be suffering some form of developmental delay due to malnutrition or lack of medical care. He can’t walk and is barely surviving in what can only be described as a very cold and damp warehouse,” Jolie said.

Khanum’s husband, Eshan, tries to earn a living as a daily labourer. He waits for hours every day but is rarely picked for work. The couple also support Khanum’s ailing 70-year-old mother, Bi Bi Zamo Jan, who also met Jolie on her first visit.

“This old woman was so upset, because she feels like a burden. She watches her grandchildren go onto the streets every day to wash cars for a dollar a day so the family can eat. Often they earn nothing,” Jolie said. “Everyone I have met on this visit has been very clear. The Afghan people don’t want to become beggars. They want the opportunity to work for a living with dignity so they can provide for their families.”

The day after arriving on Monday evening, the Goodwill Ambassador travelled to the village of Qala Gadu, which lies north of Kabul on the Shomali Plain, the scene of fierce fighting during successive waves of conflict in Afghanistan since the late 1970s. Among the 2,500 families in the area, almost everyone is a returned refugee or was internally displaced before 2002.

Jolie met a group of young girls who will study at a new primary school that is being built in the village with funding from the actress. She also paid for a school in the remote returnee settlement of Tangi in eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province. The girls in Qala Gadu currently study next to the local mosque. The lack of a proper classroom means most girls can’t study beyond 4th Grade.

Ten-year-old Sahira presented Jolie with flowers on behalf of her classmates, saying: “If you build this school, I promise I will work really hard and study until the 12th Grade.” Sahira, who wants to be a doctor when she grows up, is the youngest of five daughters and the first of them to attend school.

UNHCR is currently rallying support from donors and humanitarian and development agencies to redouble efforts to help returning refugees integrate in Afghanistan.

By Ariane Rummery in Kabul, Afghanistan
more read : UNHCR

Angelina Jolie, UN refugee agency Goodwill Ambassador, issues appeal for civilians and refugees in Côte d’Ivoire and Libya

KABUL, Afghanistan – UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie today voiced deep concern for the tens of thousands of civilians caught up in two separate and fast-unfolding emergencies: Côte d’Ivoire and Libya.

“As we witness these newest crises unfold in west and north Africa, it is critical that all parties respect the fundamental right of people in danger to flee to safety – whether civilians caught in conflict in their own country or refugees and asylum seekers caught in new conflicts,” Jolie said. “All I’m asking is that civilians be protected, and not targeted or harmed.”

In Côte d’Ivoire, fierce fighting in the Abobo district of Abidjan and clashes in the west over the past few days have blocked access for humanitarian organizations and brought the country perilously close to all-out civil war. Thousands of people have been displaced in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire’s commercial hub, and refugees have been streaming across the country’s western border into Liberia in unprecedented numbers. Eastern Liberia is already dealing with more than 70,000 Ivorians who have arrived there since the presidential election of late November.

At the same time, UNHCR is worried for thousands of refugees, asylum-seekers, and irregular migrants still inside Libya and in circumstances of considerable danger. Few of these have been able to make it out of Libya and into either Tunisia or Egypt – where most people leaving the country have been heading. On Tuesday, UNHCR said it was particularly concerned for sub-Saharan Africans who have become vulnerable because of suspicions that they are foreign mercenaries. Amid chaotic scenes at the Tunisian border, UNHCR also issued a joint appeal with the International Organization for Migration for a massive humanitarian evacuation for people fleeing Libya into Tunisia.

“With these new waves of uprising and conflict, there is and will continue to be massive new displacement. The world needs to address this moment. We have to give people safe passage, evacuation if needed, and ensure they have asylum. We don’t want to look back and find their deaths are on our hands,” Jolie said.

The acclaimed actress was speaking from Kabul, Afghanistan, where she has been on a low-profile two-day visit to listen to the problems of returned refugees still struggling to survive and reintegrate almost 10 years after returning from exile.

”As the world’s attention shifts to the newest refugee crises, we need to remember that if we don’t support people in the long term to really get back on their feet – to feed, shelter and educate their families, to earn a living with dignity, and to participate in meaningful ways in their societies – we will see a continued cycle of instability and new crises,” Jolie said.

UNHCR is rallying support from donors and other humanitarian and development agencies to redouble their efforts to help returning refugees reintegrate in Afghanistan.

More Read : UNHCR

On the 4th anniversary of her death January 27, 2011, Marcheline Bertrand’s life is celebrated with this series of photos, many of which have never been seen before. May she rest in peace as the star she really is. She is missed by many people.

Marcheline Bertrand blog

and this video I made 2years ago.

Kindness in words creates confidence.
Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.
Kindness in giving creates love.

Angelina Jolie hits the Sony Pictures Classic Golden Globes Party on Sunday (January 16) at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.
The 35-year-old actress mingled with Sony Pictures Entertainment Co-Chairman Amy Pascal at the bash and also hung out with director David Fincher and producer Cean Chaffin.
David picked up the award for Best Director for The Social Network!

Earlier in the evening, Angelina walked the red carpet with partner Brad Pitt in a gorgeous emerald green Atelier Versace gown.
jastjared.com

more video is go to screamingangie on YOUTUBE

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were among the stars on-hand for the 68th annual Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles, California on Sunday evening (January 16).

Held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, the “Tourist” actress and her “Megamind” mate were quite the big hit as the power couple worked the arrivals area at the swanky Tinseltown fete.

Among the most-popular ladies to grace the big screen, Miss Jolie is up for Best Supporting Actress for her work in “The Tourist” while competing against Annette Bening, Anne Hathaway, Julianne Moore and Emma Stone.

Angie wore a gorgeous long sleeved emerald green gown encrusted with Swarovski crystals by Atelier Versace, Ferragamo shoes, and Robert Procop jewels. Brad suited up in a Tom Ford tux.