Angelina Jolie visits Yemen to aid refugees amid Russian invasion unfolding in Ukraine - "Everyone deserves the same compassion"
Hollywood star and UN Special Envoy Angelina Jolie visited war-torn Yemen where she's working with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to provide aid and show solidarity with displaced families in Yemen.
The Oscar-winning actress took to her Instagram to share that she arrived in the capital city of Aden to meet with families and refugees in Yemen and extend her support to the people. “I've landed in Aden, to meet displaced families and refugees for UNHCR @refugees and show my support for the people of Yemen,” Jolie wrote in the caption. “I will do my best to communicate from the ground as the days unfold.”
“As we continue to watch the horrors unfolding in Ukraine, and call for an immediate end to the conflict and humanitarian access, I'm here in Yemen to support people who also desperately need peace.” she continued. The 46-year-old actress called the Yemen situation as “one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, with one civilian killed or injured every hour in 2022. An economy devastated by war, and over 20 million Yemenis depending on humanitarian assistance to survive.”
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Yemen has been convulsed by civil war since 2014, when the Iran-backed Houthi rebels took control of the capital, Sanaa, and much of the country's north, forcing the government to flee to the south, then to Saudi Arabia. As People reports, Angelina Jolie, who has long been an advocate for the people of Yemen, likened the country's ongoing humanitarian crisis to the currently unfolding war in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion.
"This week a million people were forced to flee the horrific war in Ukraine. If we learn anything from this shocking situation, it is that we cannot be selective about who
deserves support and whose rights we defend. Everyone deserves the same compassion," she wrote as text in one of the pictures in the shared post. "The lives of civilian victims of conflict everywhere are of equal value. After seven years of war, the people of Yemen also need protection, support, and above all, peace."
According to the U.N. refugee agency, about 66 percent of Yemen's 30 million people rely on humanitarian assistance for their daily survival, including over 4.2 million displaced people and 102,000 refugees and asylum-seekers. The refugee agency said it hopes that Jolie's visit would draw attention to growing humanitarian needs in Yemen, the Arab World's poorest country, ahead of the annual High Level Pledging Conference for Yemen on March 16.
Also Read: Angelina Jolie shares a personal letter from young Afghan woman to highlight their plight
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