Angelina Jolie in Lebanon refugee camp attack failure to resolve Syria ~ Live News Stream

Tuesday 15 March 2016

Angelina Jolie in Lebanon refugee camp attack failure to resolve Syria

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Humanitarian hero: Angelina Jolie, Special Envoy of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, speaks during a press conference at a Syrian refugee camp, in the eastern city of Zahleh, Lebanon

Angelina Jolie has called it 'tragic and shameful' that peace in Syria still so far away, as she called on the international community to take action to stop the war. See more pics below.

Speaking during a visit to a refugee camp in Lebanon on Tuesday, Jolie said it is the responsibility of the international community to address the root cause of the refugee crisis - war in the Middle East.

The actress and special envoy for the U.N.'s refugee agency, braved winds and pouring rain to visit to a camp in Zahleh, Lebanon's Bekaa Valley where hundreds of thousands of Syrians live.

The war in Syria between Assad's government, rebels and foreign jihadis has drawn in world powers and generated what the U.N. says is the largest humanitarian catastrophe in a generatio

Half of Syria's prewar population of some 23 million has been displaced, with around 5 million having fled their homeland, mainly to neighboring Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq.

The international relief organization OXFAM warned Tuesday that Lebanese municipalities are running out of space to bury deceased refugees.

'We should never forget that for all the focus on the refugee situation in Europe at this time, the greatest pressure is still being felt in the Middle East and North Africa, as it has for each of the last five years,' Jolie said.

After a tidal wave of refugees poured into Europe last year, some countries began erecting political and physical barriers to migration, which have left tens of thousands of refugees stuck in squalid conditions in the Balkans this spring.