Jolie returns to see Syrian refugees

ANGELINA Jolie has been meeting Syrians fleeing fighting in their homeland who had just completed the perilous border crossing to safety in neighbouring Jordan.

Jolie, a special envoy for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), last visited the region in September and since then the number of registered Syrian refugees in the region has increased by more than 200,000. In Jordan alone it has risen by nearly 50,000.

Jolie visited the sprawling Za’atri refugee camp north of Amman, which has doubled in size since she was last there. She spoke to refugees she met then and some of the newly arrived.

“What I saw last night is a dramatic example of the plight of hundreds of thousands of Syrians who have been uprooted by the fighting and are in a desperate search for safety,” Jolie said later.

“Civilians inside the country are being targeted. Many of those trying to flee are exposed to extreme danger right up to the border itself.

“I appeal to all sides in the conflict to do all they can to ensure the safe passage of these innocent civilians.”