United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Special Envoy Angelina Jolie made an appearance at the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C, on June 20, 2016,
and met with Secretary of State John Kerry before both attended an interfaith Iftar reception to mark World Refugee Day in Sterling, Virginia.
US Secretary of State praised Jolie for her dedication to the world’s refugee crisis and said, “I’m very, very grateful to Angelina for her personal leadership, for her commitment to this issue. She’s been working at this for years. This is not a passing fancy for her at all; it is a lifetime commitment.”
Saying there are 65 million people displaced by conflict in the world, Jolie asked that others “take a moment and to truly grasp what a refugee crisis of today’s magnitude means for peace and security in the world.”
Jolie said that today’s enormous refugee problem is a threat to worldwide peace and stability.
“I ask people to understand that with 65 million people displaced by conflict, we are facing a world of wars we cannot ignore or turn our backs on. To do that would be naive, irresponsible, and dangerous,” she said. “We face a very clear choice: to continue as we are and see displacement and insecurity grow, or to come together with other nations and find a new approach, one that does not focus solely on aid and resettlement but on solution, stability, and returns.”
