Shiloh’s Scare

oodwill Ambassador Jolie visits detained children in Arizona

PHOENIX, Arizona, April 29 (UNHCR) – UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie has visited detained asylum seekers at three facilities in the Arizona desert as part of her continuing efforts to give a voice to the tens of thousands of asylum seekers detained in the United States. Thousands of asylum seekers are detained every year in the US, including over 5,000 children per year.

During her visit to Arizona on Sunday, the Goodwill Ambassador visited the Southwest Key Program, a facility for unaccompanied children in Phoenix; the Florence Service Processing Center, a US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) holding and processing facility for over 300 adult men; and a private corrections facility contracted to provide DHS with beds for adult women.

The UN refugee agency has long advocated against the detention of asylum seekers and refugees worldwide. As the US and other industrialised countries have policies utilising detention programmes, however, UNHCR has often played a vital role in monitoring and ameliorating conditions of those persons who are nonetheless detained, particularly children.

In March 2003, responsibility for the care and placement of unaccompanied children in the US was transferred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within the US Department for Health and Human Services from the immigration authorities of the Immigration and Naturalization Services (former-INS, which has since been incorporated into the DHS). UNHCR welcomed the transfer of custody from an enforcement agency to one that focuses on child welfare and has decades of experience working with resettled refugees.

Jolie heard many heartbreaking stories during her visits to the three facilities, but she was particularly moved by the plight of unaccompanied children trying not only to survive the often harrowing situations that brought them to the US, but also trying to weave their way through an extremely complicated immigration system.

“Many of these children have survived tragedy, so being separated from their families can only add to their suffering,” she said. “Access to legal representation and a guardian to help them through this difficult immigration process is absolutely essential to protect them and ensure that their best interests are met.”

Jolie was pleased with the progress that ORR has made in improving the conditions for shelter of unaccompanied children in a very short time. She noted with appreciation the positive example set by the collaboration between ORR and facilities such as the Southwest Key Program.

At Southwest Key, she visited older boys and girls in bicycle repair and sewing workshops, as well as young children working on arts and crafts projects. One nine-year-old boy who was making a photo frame from brown construction paper showed the Goodwill Ambassador a photo of his father, who is living in the US and who he hopes to be reunited with soon.

Another 12-year-old girl gave Jolie a tour of her room and dormitory area, both of which were basic but made to feel very much like a proper home with hand-drawn decorations, drawings and toys adorning the beds and dressers. Later that day, Jolie met the girl’s mother at the detention facility in Florence. The two had not seen each other since two months ago, when they were caught at the border and detained in separate facilities. The girl’s mother sobbed upon hearing that Jolie had met her daughter that morning and was relieved to hear that she was healthy and being well looked after by caring staff in a friendly environment.

The Goodwill Ambassador became interested in asylum seekers in detention, especially children, when she witnessed court proceedings for detained asylum seekers in Arlington, Virginia in November 2001. Last year, she was instrumental in building awareness and support for the Unaccompanied Alien Child Protection Act of 2003 (S.1129), a Congressional bill co-sponsored by US Senators Diane Feinstein and Sam Brownback. In addition to raising tremendous public support for the bill, Senators Arlen Specter and Hilary Clinton agreed to co-sponsor the bill during private meetings with Jolie. The bill will ensure that detained unaccompanied children will be treated properly and humanely while in custody and assigned legal counsel and guardians to assist them with immigration proceedings.

Since the transfer, UNHCR has been working with the Office of Refugee Resettlement to provide even greater protection, assistance and support for unaccompanied children. In particular, all unaccompanied children in detention should have a guardian ad litem ["guardian at law" – The person appointed by the court to look out for the best interests of the child during the course of legal proceedings] and legal counsel to help ensure they are protected and cared for during their detention and legal immigration proceedings.

At the end of her visit to Arizona, Jolie was enthusiastic about the cooperation. “I am excited that UNHCR is working with ORR on this initiative,” she said. “These children are true survivors. I am awed by their spirit and inspired by their resilience. I hope they can find ways to work together to provide them with the care and assistance they deserve.”

Story date: 29 April 2004
UNHCR News Stories

http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/news/graphic.jpg?tbl=NEWS&id=3ff008d64

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassadors Angelina Jolie and Adel Imam with Sudanese refugees in Kilo Arbaa We Nus, Egypt. © UNHCR/A.Alkorey

Jolie urges Jordan to continue hospitality towards refugees

RUWAISHED, Jordan, Dec 11 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency’s Goodwill Ambassador, Angelina Jolie, has exhorted the Jordanian government to continue its long-standing generosity towards refugees during a trip to Ruwaished refugee camp near the Iraqi border.

Jolie was in Jordan on a private visit, but asked to visit Ruwaished camp in Jordan’s remote eastern desert, 70 km from the Iraqi border. The camp currently hosts some 800 people who have fled Iraq since April. The majority of them are Palestinians, with some Somalis and Sudanese who had been working in Iraq before the bombing and insecurity.

Travelling to Ruwaished on Wednesday, Jolie thanked Jordan for keeping its border open during and immediately after the war in Iraq. She also commended the Amman government for hosting the world’s largest group of Palestinian refugees – more than 1.7 million people – for more than 50 years.

“In the very short time I have been here, I have come to appreciate the specific constraints Jordan is facing,” said the Goodwill Ambassador. “But I really hope Jordan will be able to continue its long-standing tradition of providing humanitarian sanctuary to those people who feel they need to leave Iraq.”

The Jordanian government has announced plans to close Ruwaished camp soon and to move refugees to makeshift camps in the no man’s land between Jordan and Iraq, where more than 1,000 people – mostly Iranian Kurds – have been stranded since April.

UNHCR has advised the Jordanian government against the premature closure, and stepped up efforts to find solutions for the refugees.

In the meantime, some of Ruwaished’s residents remain hopeful. Meeting refugee representatives and visiting a school and healthcare centre at the camp, Jolie noted, “The children sang songs of pride and longing for their homeland. It was very moving to hear them speak of the dream to have a place called home one day.”

The Goodwill Ambassador donated 20,000 Jordanian dinars (close to $30,000) towards educational projects for the refugee children in Ruwaished camp before leaving Jordan on Thursday.

Story date: 11 December 2003
UNHCR News Stories

http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/3fd86e614.html

The writers and editors of Life & Style are a bunch of old dirty perverts with their Shiloh obsession image. Turns my stomach. I wouldn’t be surprised if this story was true… in the sense that THEY are the ones that are STALKING Shiloh and are a danger to her well-being. That’s how they have ‘insider’ information because they are writing an expose based on their own personal experiences. Bunch of crazy creeps.

SAY WHAT? .

LMFAO

Jolie appeals for aid to help Sri Lanka’s recovery

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, April 17 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency’s Goodwill Ambassador, Angelina Jolie, has concluded a week–long mission to Sri Lanka by calling on the international community to contribute to the war–torn country’s recovery.

Over the last week, Jolie got a first–hand look at the post–war conditions in northern Sri Lanka, visiting recent returnees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and other victims of the 20–year civil war.

At a press conference in Colombo on Wednesday, UNHCR’s Representative in Sri Lanka, Neill Wright, said, “The Goodwill Ambassador has seen why it is important to invest in immediate relief and rehabilitation over the next 18–24 months. It is a crucial period for Sri Lanka.”

Jolie added, “While addressing the immediate material needs is vital, it must be accompanied by the creation of a greater respect for human rights and protection of all vulnerable people in Sri Lanka. In support of this, I am offering my assistance, financial or otherwise, to strengthen the Human Rights Commission (HRC) of Sri Lanka.”

On Monday, Jolie travelled to Kilinochchi district in northern Sri Lanka, where she met with returnee families. She also visited an orphanage for girls, and a school for blind and deaf children in Mullaitivu district.

The Goodwill Ambassador spent the next day in Jaffna town with recent returnees in the Muslim Quarter. She also visited the Jaffna Social Action Centre, supported by UNHCR, which offers pre–school and playroom facilities, as well as skills training for single mothers.

Travelling to the northern coast of Jaffna district, she met returnees and displaced people near Point Pedro. She toured Valvedditturai hospital, and committed to donating funds for the rehabilitation of the paediatric ward. The hospital has 88 beds but only one physician, 62–year–old Dr Mylerumperilman, who also runs an outpatient clinic where he treats an average of 85 patients per day.

More than 1.5 million Sri Lankans have been uprooted by a civil war that lasted almost two decades. But since last February’s signing of a cease–fire agreement between the government and rebels from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), some 271,000 people have returned to their home areas.

UNHCR estimates that at least another 100,000 people could return this year. The agency has appealed for $8 million in supplementary funds this year to carry out essential protection activities, buy relief items for up to 60,000 families and finance projects to fill gaps in other sectors, including minor infrastructure repairs, rehabilitating water and health services, as well as income–generating activities.

Jolie has been the UN refugee agency’s Goodwill Ambassador for over two years and has visited several other operations in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Balkans.

Story date: 17 April 2003
UNHCR News Stories

Jolie thanks Tanzania for longstanding support to refugees

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, April 2 (UNHCR) – Oscar award-winning actress Angelina Jolie has travelled the world both for location shoots and in her capacity as Goodwill Ambassador for the UN refugee agency. But there was one journey she had not experienced until recently.

Last Thursday, Jolie embarked on a six-day mission to Tanzania – her second to the country – and travelled to the western border camps for a first-hand look at UNHCR’s operations in the area. She followed a group of 91 separated children who had just arrived from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), seeing them through their registration at Kigoma town, and joining them on a bumpy ride to Lugufu camp, where they received non-food relief items.

Jolie shared their experience by helping them build their huts on a newly allocated site at Lugufu, and joining them for a briefing on the camp’s routine and activities.

Lugufu camp hosts some 85,000 Congolese refugees. With more people still fleeing fighting in eastern DRC, Tanzanian authorities have recently given UNHCR permission to receive an additional 4,000 refugees in Lugufu II.

“Personally and on behalf of UNHCR, I want to thank the Tanzanian people and their government for keeping the borders open over the years,” said the Goodwill Ambassador. “Their continued understanding and generosity have helped to keep many families alive.”

At Lugufu, Jolie also joined the refugee children in games organised by Right to Play, a sports development group that aims to use sports and play as a means of promoting education, health, conflict resolution and child development in refugee camps.

Before leaving Tanzania on Tuesday, she donated $50,000 to Kurasini orphanage in the capital, Dar es Salaam. UNHCR had put her in touch with the government-funded orphanage, which had on some occasions accepted refugee children who lost their parents to AIDS.

Jolie’s contribution will be used to educate the 92 children currently living in the institution. The donation will also help fund an HIV/AIDS awareness programme and a reproductive health programme for the teenagers in Kurasini orphanage.

Story date: 2 April 2003
UNHCR News Stories

Feature: Jolie gives refugee girls a shot at school in Kenya

KAKUMA, Kenya, Oct 14 (UNHCR) – Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie leaned forward eagerly as a young Sudanese girl quietly recounted her tale of how she had fled war and hunger in her homeland and finally made her way to Kakuma refugee camp just over the border in north-western Kenya.

“She lost her entire family when she was only five years old and has been in this camp for more than 10 years. What do you say to someone who loses her whole family at such an age?” asked Jolie, visibly moved as she heard this and many other stories from refugee girls who had flocked to welcome her on this visit on Sunday. The sprawling camp at Kakuma is home to some 80,000 people.

Many of the girls moved Jolie, a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, close to tears as they told her how much they wanted to go to school and receive an education, but for a variety of reasons were often unable to do so.

“These girls are so strong, so inspiring. They want an education because they want a better life, they know they don’t have to stay forever near the bottom of the pile and want to move up,” Jolie said after sitting and chatting with the girls under the shade of a tree at one reception centre.

The Goodwill Ambassador shook her head in disbelief as she heard how many of the girls and women in the camp were subjected to various forms of violence – from rape to genital mutilation – and how many were unable to attend school due to domestic chores.

“On this trip my main concern has become the plight of refugee women and particularly girls. In Kakuma, close to 1,000 girls are out of school. I was upset to find that a good part of them are in this situation because of both early and forced marriages. I saw 12-year-old mothers!” she said.

To address the problems of young girls being abducted for marriage and early pregnancies, the UN refugee agency has set up programmes in the camp, like increasing the number of female police officers to encourage reporting of such incidents. A magistrate from the nearby town of Lodwar travels to Kakuma regularly to hear cases in a mobile court set up to handle various cases, including the abduction of girls for marriage. Refugee women committees established throughout the camp help counsel victims of early pregnancies and speak to communities about the risks of female genital mutilation. In school, an incentive programme is being run to encourage more girls to attend school. Attendance remains very irregular depending on domestic pressures refugee girls may face at home.

“As a refugee girl, you are expected to stand in line for hours to fetch water and carry it home, go out and forage for firewood, and cook and clean for the family,” said Jolie, noting that girls had to confront many other barriers in order to receive a decent education.

The Goodwill Ambassador made a personal donation of $200,000 to UNHCR’s work in Kenya, earmarking $50,000 of her donation to build a new school for girls at the camp. Many of its prospective pupils sang and clapped their hands as she unveiled a plaque and planted a tree at the proposed site.

“With this help, and the construction of this school, future generations of girls will be saved. Work begins tomorrow,” declared Kofi Mable, head of UNHCR’s Kakuma sub-office.

The plaque reads: “Dedicated to the emancipation of the refugee girls of Kakuma and women’s rights and freedom to education.”

Jolie said she had also heard chilling accounts of children as young as five being subjected to genital mutilation. “A number of the older women have also been raped and suffered other forms of sexual violence,” she said. “There can be no compromise on the physical safety and dignity of women as a whole, and particularly the refugee girls.”

Jolie, who is in Kenya shooting the sequel to the movie, “Tomb Raider”, also visited several other projects at the camp and handed out gifts ranging from volleyballs to exercise books. She expressed concern that a projected budget shortfall of some $20 million in UNHCR Kenya could lead to programme cuts.

“Most of the people here are already living on the bare minimum – any cut means a life,” she said, and appealed to the international community to continue to support “the work of UNHCR and the other organisations working for refugees, such as the World Food Programme – above all to ensure there is funding made available”.

The Goodwill Ambassador, who was greeted at Kakuma’s dirt airstrip by local Turkana tribeswomen, was given an enthusiastic welcome wherever she went in the camp. Young children sang songs and read poems of peace while their parents and older refugees banged drums and performed traditional dances.

She began her tour by watching a wheelchair basketball match by the victims of landmines. She moved on to a construction site where houses are built out of mud bricks.

Kakuma, which was created after thousands fled fighting in south Sudan – Africa’s longest-running civil war – also houses refugees from Angola, Ethiopia, Eritrea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda. Sudanese, however, make up some 71 percent of the population.

Jolie, who has visited several refugee camps around the world since she became a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN refugee agency over one year ago, said she had seen “worse and better” camps than Kakuma. But what made this camp different was the number of girls who simply did not have a chance for a better life.

“It is not fair, it is simply not fair – every child, every girl has a right to education. Here they have just enough to survive, but they are so special, so spirited. It is I who must learn from them,” she later told a press conference in Nairobi.

UNHCR’s Representative to Kenya, George Okoth-Obbo, said Jolie’s visit was a shot in the arm to all concerned. “It is wonderful and humbling that someone so busy should find time to come here, to use her renown, her artistry, her presence, just to bring some joy into what is undoubtedly a hard life for many of the people here,” he said.

By Jonathan Clayton
UNHCR Regional Office, Nairobi

Story date: 14 October 2002
UNHCR News Stories

Goodwill in the Land of Smiles

BANGKOK, Thailand (UNHCR) – Braving monsoon showers, UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie visited the Tham Hin refugee camp in Thailand on May 19. This day-long visit marked her first visit to a refugee camp in Southeast Asia.

Accompanied by the UN refugee agency’s Regional Representative, Jahanshah Assadi, she toured the camp and was briefed by the Thai authorities in the camp as well as the refugee committee and refugee elders. She visited the clinic, spoke with medics and health workers and met many refugees.

At the camp school, Jolie was welcomed by a traditional Karen dance performed by refugee children. Later, at a simple ceremony in the school, she donated a television set, video player and generator for educational and vocational training purposes, along with sports equipment. She also donated a sarong to every refugee woman in the camp.

In return, the refugee community presented Jolie with an embroidered traditional ethnic Karen dress, which she wore, much to the delight of the group. Sitting on floor mats, she distributed soccer balls to the throngs of excited children.

Tham Hin camp, established in 1997, is situated near the Thai-Myanmar border and has a population of some 9,000 predominantly ethnic Karen refugees from Myanmar.

When asked for her impressions of the camp, Jolie said the refugees were “really taking care of, and taking responsibility for, themselves … This camp is a real example of a working camp”.

The Goodwill Ambassador expressed her appreciation to the Royal Thai Government for its humanitarian policy towards refugees, and paid a special tribute to the Thai people and host communities for their compassion and generosity to refugees over the years.

“Everybody would like to go home,” she said, expressing hope that the refugees will be able to return home voluntarily in the near future under safe and dignified conditions. “To prepare them for what they are going to be, training will help,” she added, emphasising the need for proper education and vocational training for refugees in order for them to lead productive lives once they return home.

At the end of her visit to the camp, Jolie pledged US$100,000 towards vocational and educational training activities benefiting the refugee population and host community.

Prior to the Tham Hin camp, Jolie had visited camps in Pakistan, Cambodia, Sierra Leone and Tanzania. She was most recently in Osire camp in Namibia, where she donated food, tents, sports equipment, and made a private contribution towards education materials and support for the Women’s Centre.

Indrika Ratwatte
UNHCR Bangkok

Story date: 22 May 2002
UNHCR News Stories

That is a very disgusting cover written by psychotic and mentally deranged people. They can not possibly be normal adults writting such filth about a child even photoshopping her clothes. Dont they have people their own age to fight with?

An Interview with Angelina Jolie

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie discusses her time in Cambodia and the effects of landmines there as well as the impact the trip had on her personality. She is willing to share her experiences with the world to help raise awareness for mine action.*

By Jenny Lange, MAIC

Jenny Lange (JL): What first made you aware of the landmine situation around the world?

Ms. Angelina Jolie (AJ): When I went to Cambodia for work, I was suddenly in a country where I saw it was a very big problem. We were restricted to where we could move or walk because of landmines.
JL: What about Cambodia pulled your attention away from the movie and towards Cambodia and its people?

AJ: I think it’s a lot of things like knowing the history of the place, [and] having not been taught at school. I felt I should have been taught about the landmine problem. It made me suddenly realise certain things about the world and how much I had to learn, like the history of the people. They are so warm and great and spirited; they are such survivors. I think they are such amazing people.

JL: Did you approach UNHCR, or did they approach you after your visit to Cambodia?

AJ: I approached UNHCR because I believe in what the United Nations is attempting to do,… and I support the United Nations. I read about the different chapters and UNHCR was the most [appealing] because I believe refugees are the most vulnerable people in the world. They are affected by everything, including landmines. They are vulnerable to everything.

JL: Through your position at UNHCR, what exactly are you hoping to accomplish?

AJ: Awareness [of] the plight of these people. I think they should be commended for what they have survived, not looked down upon. I think people are often uncomfortable and don’t like the idea. They seem to shy away because of what it means to them. I think these are really amazing people that are not really understood. Also, I personally just wanted to meet these people around the world and know them, because they are my heroes, and I think they are wonderful people.

JL: I recently read that you were able to personally detonate a landmine. Is this true?

AJ: I went with HALO, which is a great organisation. We were there in Cambodia. We were… in one field they were demining [where] they had found three different mines. At the end of each day they explode them, and they let me explode one. It was a great feeling because you know something like that, if HALO hadn’t been there and if you weren’t detonating it, that it might otherwise be hurting someone, and you are getting rid of something that could be otherwise dangerous or deadly. So it is a great feeling.

JL: Are you able to describe personally the effect that landmines had on victims in Cambodia, physically, psychologically and economically?

AJ: I think it’s difficult to describe because these people are victims of such horror, and yet they are so strong, that they don’t seem like victims. So, I think, you don’t want to shout that they are victims. We should make a point that they don’t have to go through this, because they are such survivors. But certainly it affects them in so many ways. There’s an organisation - CVD, Cambodia Vision and Development - that works with vulnerable people; most of them are landmine victims. If you can imagine the area and the land in Cambodia, I mean there are hardly any roads in big parts of the country. The roads they have, in the rainy season, become just mud. So, if you’re somebody that has just one leg, or blind with no arms and you have children and you’re trying to work, and earn some money, and take care of your home, it’s hard enough to be a parent and do all of that normally. It seems impossible and probably would be impossible without the help of a lot of these organisations. Organisations like CVD put a lot of these people together so they can work in a group. They are amazing. Then you go to some places where it’s so hard for them to access limbs, depending on where they are in the country. And the young children, if they survive and they have lost a limb, their bodies are still growing so they have to go back quite often. They don’t have cars or local hospitals. It’s a big trek to go in and find somebody who will volunteer to refit you and shave the bone down. They are going to have that their whole life because they are growing. It’s a really horrible thing.

JL: While you were in Cambodia, or Pakistan or Africa, did you ever personally feel in danger because of landmines or any other issues?

AJ: Well, landmines specifically would be Cambodia. Yeah, I went off into certain areas where you were just told that nothing had exploded in this area therefore it’s not considered a high-risk area, but you along with everybody else stay on a very clear path that has already been walked. You don’t stray from it. You know in the middle of the night when I had to go use the bathroom in the bushes and was not really sure where the path was. It’s crazy the thought that you really don’t know, and for people to live like that all the time. There were times when we would go wandering off in Cambodia and had to be extremely careful where we were going and to know the area. For anybody that works in any kind of demining or any kind of humanitarian aid work, there is danger and it’s always a high-risk area.

Angelina Jolie named UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador for refugees

Version française

GENEVA – American actress Angelina Jolie will help bring awareness about refugees as the U.N. refugee agency’s Goodwill Ambassador. At a ceremony Monday (27 August) with staff at UNHCR headquarters in Geneva, the 26 year-old Jolie will be given the honorary title by Mr. Ruud Lubbers, UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

“We are very pleased that Ms. Jolie has generously agreed to give her time and energy to support UNHCR’s work,” Mr. Lubbers said. “She can help give a voice to refugees, many of whom live in the shadows of forgotten tragedies. We are proud to welcome her to the UNHCR family.”

Several months ago, Ms. Jolie approached UNHCR saying she wanted to learn more about humanitarian action for refugees. Since March, she has made arduous field visits to refugee camps in Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Cambodia and Pakistan. She insisted on covering all costs related to her missions and shared the same rudimentary working and living conditions as UNHCR field staff.

“I was shocked by what I saw,” Ms. Jolie said of her field visits. “We cannot close ourselves off to information and ignore the fact that millions of people are out there suffering. I honestly want to help. I don’t believe I feel differently from other people. I think we all want justice and equality, a chance for a life with meaning. All of us would like to believe that if we were in a bad situation someone would help us.”

Reflecting on her time spent with humanitarian field workers, she added, “you go to these places and you realize what life’s really about and what people are really going through. These people are my heroes.”

Ms. Jolie kept a journal of her mission to Africa which can be found on the website http://www.usaforunhcr.org. Her journals for Cambodia and Pakistan will soon follow.

UNHCR, which has won two Nobel Peace Prizes over the past 50 years, cares for some 22 million refugees and other uprooted people in some 120 countries.

Story date: 23 August 2001
UNHCR Press Releases