OlderAngelina Jolie in Chad
During a visit to the Oure-Cassoni camp in eastern Chad, UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie listens to refugee women from the Darfur region in Sudan. CLICK HERE to find out why Angelina Jolie is visiting this camp!
UPDATE :: Read Angelina Jolie’s article about “Justice for Darfur.” The first line reads, “Here, at this refugee camp on the border of Sudan, nothing separates us from Darfur but a small stretch of desert and a line on a map.”
Angelina Jolie visits camp in Chad to assess situation for Darfur refugees
By Matthew Conway in Bahai, Chad
BAHAI, Chad, February 27 (UNHCR) – UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie on Tuesday completed a two-day mission to a refugee camp in eastern Chad which enabled her to assess how the security situation has deteriorated for Sudanese refugees since her last visit to Chad three years ago.
Jolie, who visited both Chad and neighbouring Sudan’s Darfur region with UNHCR in 2004, said she was struck by the sense of hope she encountered at the Oure-Cassoni camp near this town and by the widespread desire for peace-keepers to be deployed in Chad.
She also reflected on the hardship and suffering she had seen at the camp, which is located less than five kilometres from the border with Sudan. “It’s always hard to see decent people, families, living in such difficult conditions,” she said. “What is most upsetting is how long it is taking the international community to answer this crisis,” Jolie added.
The award-winning actress had to travel through a sandstorm on Monday to reach the Oure-Cassoni camp, which with a refugee population of more than 26,000 is the northernmost of 12 UNHCR-run camps in eastern Chad housing more than 230,000 refugees from Sudan’s troubled Darfur region.
She was greeted at one of the camp’s many primary schools by singing children as the desert wind whipped against the plastic sheeting serving as the structure’s roof and walls. The encroaching sands and storms make their hard life even tougher, with many of the tents and mud-brick houses partially or completely buried. Wood for cooking and heat is scarce in the region, and competition for the resource causes friction between the refugee and local populations.
Refugee women are sometimes sexually and physically abused while out collecting the precious scraps of firewood beyond the protection of police provided by the Chadian government to help ensure refugee security.
At the school, Jolie listened to children’s tales of daily life, their concerns and their hopes of one day returning to their homes in Darfur. The room was filled with laughter as she and the children took turns drawing for each other. She later visited mentally ill refugees.
On Tuesday, Jolie visited a man-made reservoir that feeds the camp with water, but which is now almost empty following disappointing rains last year. Its shrinking reserves are a matter of concern for the refugees and UNHCR.
She then sat down with a group of women and discussed their desire for access to income-generating activities as well as their longing to return home. But the women, who were preparing celebrations for International Women’s Day on March 8, said it was still not safe enough across the border and many of the refugees she spoke to supported calls for a peace-keeping force in Chad.
In a report last week to the United Nations Security Council, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon proposed sending a multi-dimensional peace-keeping mission to Chad to protect civilians and deter cross-border attacks.
The refugees Jolie talked to also drew comfort from recent radio reports saying that the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) had told the Security Council it had credible evidence of grave crimes against humanity committed in Darfur.
“Today, many refugees seemed to have a new sense of hope, and they want to see those guilty brought to trial . . . In order to feel safe enough to return home, these people said they would need to know that the men who attacked them had been stripped of their weapons,” Jolie said. “This is a very important day for international justice. The decisions of the ICC could make a big difference in the lives of these women and their children.”
Jolie had high praise for the UNHCR staff and NGO workers that she met in the camp. “Years into this situation, now finding themselves coming under attack, humanitarian workers’ spirits are unbroken,” she said.
There are more than 230,000 refugees from Sudan in eastern Chad, while some 46,000 refugees from the Central African Republic have found shelter in southern Chad. In addition to these refugees, close to 120,000 Chadians are displaced in the eastern region of their own country.
Share This Post:
617 Comments
Thanks for all the links to articles and more pictures. I was impressed with the article written by AJ in the Washington Post. It is good to see that BP and AJ have such a strong bond with their family and the Grandmother bonding with her grandchildren. Best wishes to BAMZS and peace to all.
574
KT 22 Says:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Great post! I think I would be concerned if every pic I did see of them, they were crying or something like that but they are not. If you had strangers standing at a distance snapping photos of you as a kid, would you be smiling it up for the photo opt? I’ll take a guess and say no. I think a lot of haters are reaching and as sad as it is to see….it’s equally as funny to see how desparate you guys are getting.
bdjwell said
What a looser YOU ARE!
gotta go my ride is here bamzs fans are the true fans
#566
Julia:
=========
ITA ~~~~ from the nose up Brad, nose down Angie, a love match ~lol
#
579
Flag comment is an asssss Says:
February 28th, 2007 at 5:35 pm - flag comment
What a looser YOU ARE!
why because they are flagging you ?
lmao
Those of you who are trying to understand why some don’t like anyone in BAMSZ should not waste enrgy on trying to figure it out. You can’t make people like others. Just because she does some humanitarian work will not make you like someone. Oprah has many haters, as does Ted Turner, Bill Gates, George Soros, Mia Farraow, Queen Elizabeth Queen Noor,etc….There is nothing you can do. Fans should continue to support and ignore haters. I do want to know for those that don’t like BAMZS, why they even bother with them? There are other people around.
FYI
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=FT&Date=20070225&ID=6530602
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&ie=UTF-8&ncl=1113954005
This video is for all the Bradgenlina hater and it is equal = Maniston lovers…..
Angelina is such a great human being that God has given her everything she wanted in life. Love, lovely family and excellent man who love her and want to share his life with her and their children. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl1CBBE8e3E
KT22- ITA, my kids were the same way, until they got comfortable and their face was familiar they would just look to figure them out…
OK, we have been talking about how gorgeous the kids are for the past several days.
I think we need to compliment grandma too. She is very attractive, very attentive to her grandkids and seems to be really enjoying them. I think Brad looks alot like her but I haven’t seen recent pics of Bill Pitt other than the one in Namibia which you can’t really see his face that well. I think Angie is very lucky to have them as grandparents to their kids especially since she lost her mom. JMHO!
NEW THREAD
#
515
Geeez Says:
February 28th, 2007 at 4:24 pm - flag comment
Angie is dark and seems be instilling darkness into her kids. Nice ..
Angie now has Brad, Maddox, Zahara and Shiloh to shine light, No more dark days.
Too bad you don’t have any light in your life.
Shiloh really has Brad’s eyes and squint down pat at 9 months in these pixs. Hehe. She looks at this age most like Brad, only lips like her mother. Angelina did say that sometimes she looks at Shiloh and sees Brad, and that was sweet. But who knows what Shiloh will look like as she gets older.
Guess some people have run out of things to carp about so now it is how the kids are dressed. Grandmom Jane seems to like black clothes, Angelina likes black clothes, and Brad likes black clothes. Parents and grandparents tend to dress their kids as they dress. It’s their business. Mad looks to be getting taller. I am happy for the kids to have grandmom in their lives.
POST ON THE NEW TOPIC!!!
MSNBC has posted the story on its main page (see below). My apologies if this has already been posted.
*****************
Jolie Visits Refugee Camp in Chad
Feb 28, 3:23 PM EST
The Associated Press
http://movies.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=253468>1=7701
GENEVA — Angelina Jolie made a two-day trip to a camp in eastern Chad this week, where she visited refugees from neighboring Sudan’s Darfur region.
“It’s always hard to see decent people, families, living in such difficult conditions,” said Jolie, who reached the 26,000-person Oure-Cassoni camp after crossing a Saharan sandstorm.
“What is most upsetting is how long it is taking the international community to answer this crisis,” she said in a statement released Wednesday by the Geneva-based U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
The Oscar-winning actress and U.N. goodwill ambassador completed her trip Tuesday.
Jolie said it is about time that those responsible for crimes against humanity in Darfur face international justice.
“Today, many refugees seemed to have a new sense of hope and they want to see those guilty brought to trial,” said Jolie, who welcomed the first accusations by the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor against individuals for war crimes in the four-year-old Darfur conflict.
On Tuesday, the ICC’s chief prosecutor linked Sudan’s government to atrocities in Darfur, naming a junior minister as a war crimes suspect who allegedly helped recruit, arm and bankroll the murderous desert fighters known as the janjaweed. A janjaweed militia leader was also named in the case.
The conflict has claimed more than 200,000 lives and displaced 2.5 million people. Fighting erupted in February 2003 when ethnic African tribesmen took up arms, complaining of decades of neglect and discrimination by the Khartoum government. Sudan’s government is accused of unleashing the Arab janjaweed, which is blamed for widespread atrocities against ethnic African civilians in Darfur.
“In order to feel safe enough to return home, these people said they would need to know that the men who attacked them had been stripped of their weapons,” Jolie, 31, said. “This is a very important day for international justice.
The decisions of the ICC could make a big difference in the lives of these women and their children.”
On Tuesday, Mia Farrow told a press conference at the United Nations that she had encountered burned villages and terrified refugees with no help in sight on her recent trip to Central African Republic and Chad.
The 62-year-old actress and U.N. goodwill ambassador recalled impressions from her visits earlier this month to villages and refugee camps along border areas where violence has spilled over from Sudan’s Darfur region.
I get so tired of people who keep blaming America first or the Bush administration or the neighbor’s dog for everything bad that is going on in the world. To Rachel, Sheri, and all the others who just wish that the war would go away or that every ill could be wished away just because you feel sorry for those afflicted…what planet do you guys live in? You hate wars but you have no compunction in asking for American soldiers to intervene in a cnflict that the UN has refused to admit as genocide? Shouldn’t you be asking for UN troops since they are the authority in this area?
Here is an article that you should read before you start preaching your self-righteous rantings:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/12112006/postopinion/opedcolumnists/the_damned_of_darfur_opedcolumnists_ralph_peters.htm?page=3
However, since this is another viewpoint that does not agree with your ideology, I doubt if you will waste time reading or even pondering what the article says.
This is not a political blog so we can’t discuss or post links but why don’t you go to one and see how you fare? Kos and Huff will love you but the real ones? You guys had better stick to celebs.
THE NY POST?! I wouldn’t even line my cat litter box with that right-wing rag.
Oh yeah, like the NY Post ever post anything truthfull….
MrsR Says:
Thank for you’re advice
538
Aiko Says:
Oh I get it, because your small and narrow mind did not agree with me and my opinion that makes me dumb? Hmmm, kind of makes you judgmental.
546
please Says:
Good point, so what are you doing actually to help?? Serious question? I really dont think Angie & Brad care that you are here defending their honor. I am sure they would appreciate your time on something of some importance and doing your pare to help out. So seriously what are you doing to help??
linn j, typical anuston fan. go to sleep. we know you are upset since brad & angie are moving so nicely with their lives & your pathetic idol anuston is still doing the circle of friends round-about. too sad too bad.
i for one hate your idol anuston very much. i do hope she’ll visit greece to see where her ancestors come from. but no she insists on going to baja & mexico. gosh she’s not even mexican, she just likes mexican food.
i am so sure seeing grandma pitt with the jolie-pitts burst your bubble & you keep ranting about the past. so sad that anuston fans insists their pathetic moronic idol moved on BUT her fans are still stuck in the past. SAD INDEED.
A few posts above (#567) there is a quote from Sandra Bullock how “she has learned not to judge a book by its cover.” This is in reference of course to when she first met her husband. Now the real tita (#592) has put a link of an article from the NY Post on here for everyone to read and the responses were: “the NY Post” that right wing publication blah blah blah”…. Did you take the time to read the article? It is a good piece. The author is making a plea to do something about the situation in Darfur whether you are a conservative or leftist. Granted he is taking pot shots at the left but his article is still compelling, challenging and worth reading. I implore you to please read the article before passing judgment. It is wrong to do so without knowing all the facts.
I am forever a fan of BAMZS and applaud AJ for her efforts in Darfur. It is a very bad and sad situation there that we can’t afford to ignore for much longer.
Angie well done, for the first time u have managed to appear serious abput the un works. I have never taken your works seriously before because i thought your pictures (of your kids and your lover) in Hello and People were beyond self absorbed. I also didn’t like what you said in your various interviews. Writing for a well respected newspaper is a good start. Keep doing it. I don’t want to see your family pictures in the tabloids again please. I know you and brad gave them away when you were promoting babel and the good sheperd. It was a terrible move. It totally devalued your humanitarian works. I hope I don’t see you on the red carpet with Brad pitt again too. If gweneth paltrow can manage her career without walking the red carpet with her rock star husband, chris martin, then I am positive your pr people can manage it. Gweneth refuses to mix work and family together. It is a great thing. It prevents her from criticisms and ensures her kids of privacy. The tabloids also leave her alone more. Please learn something from brad’s ex.
Pages: « 1 … 19 20 21 22 23 [24] 25 » Show All
Comment and Share!
E-mail to a Friend or share on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and more!