Angelina Jolie has flown to North Africa to help as thousands of refugees flee the ongoing conflict in Libya. More than 400,000 people have crossed Libya’s borders since fighting broke out between rebel groups and forces loyal to leader Muammar Gaddafi, while allied countries have also been carrying out air strikes in the area.
The Hollywood actress, who is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations’ refugee agency, travelled to the border of Libya and neighbouring Tunisia on Tuesday to oversee aid efforts for refugees in the region. She has stepped in to help by paying for a plane to take 177 people back to their native countries through the charity she set up with her partner Brad Pitt, the Jolie-Pitt Foundation.
Jolie’s organisation has also purchased an ambulance for aid workers in Tunisia, where many fleeing refugees ended up, and she’s calling for more funding to help look after Libyans who have been displaced by the fighting. She says in a statement, “The international community has done well to reinforce Tunisia’s remarkable relief effort. But with 2,000 people still crossing each day, we cannot let the funding dry up and need to sustain the momentum.
They’re waiting here with little hope, unable to return home and unsure of what’s to come. This constant cycle of displacement must finally come to an end.”
