United Nations, New York, USA, April 24 2015 – Angelina Jolie Pitt (right), Special Envoy of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), addresses the Security Council meeting on the continuing conflict in Syria and the attendant humanitarian and refugee crises. At her side is the High Commissioner, Antonio Guterres.
On the Photo: Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie and UNHCR High Commissioner, Antonio Guterres
Credit: Luiz Rampelotto/EuropaNewswire
Actor Angelina Jolie, a UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) Special Envoy, said the United Nations is failing to end the conflict in Syria.
Speaking at a Security Council meeting on the Humanitarian situation in Syria, Jolie said the Security Council has the power to address the conflict in Syria, “but those powers lie unused” because of the lack of political will.
She said:
“We cannot look at Syria, and the evil that has arisen from the ashes of indecision, and think this is not the lowest point in the world’s inability to protect and defend the innocent.”
“Any one of the Syrians I have met would speak more eloquently about the conflict than I ever could. Nearly four million Syrian refugees are victims of a conflict they have no part in. Yet they are stigmatized, unwanted, and regarded as a burden. So I am here for them, because this is their United Nations.”
“It is sickening to see thousands of refugees drowning on the doorstep of the world’s wealthiest continent. No one risks the lives of their children in this way except out of utter desperation. If we cannot end the conflict, we have an inescapable moral duty to help refugees and provide legal avenues to safety.”
UNHCR Chief Antonio Guterres said it is clear the situation in the region has become “utterly unsustainable.”
United Nations, New York, USA, April 24 2015 – Angelina Jolie Pitt (right), Special Envoy of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), addresses the Security Council meeting on the continuing conflict in Syria and the attendant humanitarian and refugee crises. At her side is the High Commissioner, Antonio Guterres.
On the Photo: Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie and UNHCR High Commissioner, Antonio Guterres
Credit: Luiz Rampelotto/EuropaNewswire
He said:
“The situation in the Middle East is a cancer that risks spreading and metastasizing. If things continue this way, we could see future developments spin out of control, independently of our will and with increasingly dangerous global consequences. We cannot let that happen. This is not just a question of solidarity with those who bear the brunt of this crisis. It is a matter of preserving the very foundation of who we are, and of ensuring our common interests.”
Source: UNTV, EuropaNewswire