The actress made the donation to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Wednesday, a date designated World Refugee Day by the international organization. Jolie also released a statement through the UN calling for “durable solutions for ... refugees.”
“UNHCR believes even one person forced to flee is too many. And it’s true,” Jolie said in the statement. “Every individual refugee matters. Each has their own story. Each has suffered and survived more than I could ever bear. And yet, they rise up to live another day.”
She continued, “The international community should rededicate itself to preventing conflict, addressing it when it erupts, and solving it more quickly, for that is the only way to create durable solutions for the refugees whose strength inspires us on this World Refugee Day.”
As McClatchy Newspapers’s David Enders reported, it’s difficult to say how many Syrians have fled their homes since since a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad began in early 2011. According to Enders, the UN placed the number at 500,000 at the end of May.
The Associated Press reported that more than 13,000 people have been killed during the uprising.
Jolie, now a Special Envoy to the UNHCR, visited Syria last June as a goodwill ambassador. She was greeted at a refugee camp near the Turkish border with a banner that read “Goodness Angel of the World, Welcome.”
Watch Jolie deliver a message about refugees below.
