Far from the glamorous world of Hollywood where many celebs will be walking the red carpet at the 2015 Screen Actors Guild Awards, Angelina Jolie made a trip to northern Iraq on Sunday, Jan. 25. The Unbroken director, 39, visited victims of ISIS who have been displaced in refugee camps.
As the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Jolie visited the Khanke Camp for Internally Displaced People, which is currently housing tens of thousands of families, who were forced to abandon their homes after they were invaded by the Islamic State.
After greeting the crowd and shaking many hands, the mother of six gave an impassioned speech, encouraging world leaders to step in and help end the fighting in Syria and Iraq.
“Too many innocent people are paying the price of the conflict in Syria and spread of extremism. The international community has to step up and do more,” the Oscar winner said (via The Daily Mail). “It is not enough to defend our values at home. We have to defend them here, in the camps and in the informal settlements across the Middle East, and in the ruined towns of Iraq and Syria. We are being tested here, as an international community, and so far – for all the immense efforts and good intentions – we are failing.”
As a mother, Jolie finds this particular cause far too close to home.
“I have met mothers whose children have been kidnapped by ISIL,” Brad Pitt‘s wife said. “As a parent, I couldn’t imagine a greater horror. They are overwhelmed by thoughts of what is happening to their children. Nothing can prepare you for the horrific stories of these survivors of kidnap, abuse and exploitation and to see how they cannot all get the urgent help they need and deserve.”
