Angelina Jolie Stands Up for the Downtrodden on World Refugee Day

Passionate star visits camp in Jordan where more than 120,000 Syrians have fled the war

By Jefferson Reid Jun 21, 2013 3:40 AMTags
Angelina JolieJordan Pix/Getty Images

Angelina Jolie's got a heart as big as the world.

Obviously not one to let her own health problems hold her back on issues she feels passionately about, Jolie continues to fight the good fight by highlighting refugee rights in Jordan and across the globe for World Refugee Day, June 20.

Jolie, special envoy to the UN for refugees, traveled with UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres to Za'atri camp in Jordan, which has been overflowing due to the ongoing crisis in Syria.

According to a report from the UNHCR, Jolie and other UN officials toured the site, which is now the second largest refugee camp in the world with more than 120,000 residents, and spoke out about the dire conditions.

Ms. Jolie told reporters on the scene that "the Syrian crisis here in Jordan and across the region is the most acute humanitarian crisis anywhere in the world today." She said refugees from the Syrian conflict, "have left behind a country in which millions of people are displaced…and where at least 93,000 have been killed: the friends, neighbours, fathers, mothers and children of people in this camp today."

Jolie urged world leaders to work harder to stop the bloodshed: "I pray that all parties in the Syrian conflict will stop targeting civilians and allow access to humanitarian aid."

Amen to that.

PHOTOS: Angie's Top 10 quotes on motherhood