Angelina Jolie urges Europe to prioritise refugees over economic migrants
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- Published on Tuesday, 08 September 2015 04:49
- Written by Independent
Angelina Jolie and Baroness Arminka Helic have called for refugees fleeing war and persecution to be prioritised over economic migrants as Europe faces the biggest refugee crisis to hit its shores since the Second World War.Jolie, an actress and activist, is special envoy of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Helic is a member of the House of Lords and a former refugee, having escaped the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the 1990s. She also served as the special advisor to the former Foreign Secretary, William Hague.In a jointly written comment piece for The Times, Jolie and Helic urged governments to recognise the humanitarian responsibility they have with the thousands of displaced men, women and children fleeing countries ravaged by war for Europe. A Chnage.org petition launched by The Independent calling on the British Government to accept its fair share of refugees has been signed over 360,000 times. The petition was launched after the devastating picture of Syrian toddler Alyan Kurdi washed up on a Turkish beach emerged, shocking thousands into action.Ten thousand refugees reached Munich on Sunday and were greeted with welcome signs, food, water and toys upon their arrival.
Helic and Jolie said it was important to remember the distinction between economic migrants trying to escape lives of extreme poverty, and refugees who are fleeing an immediate threat to their lives in this time of emergency.They wrote: “All people on the move in these tragic circumstances must have their human rights and dignity respected and their needs understood and addressed. We should not stigmatise anyone for the aspiration to a better life. “But refugees are facing an immediate need to be saved from persecution and death and their rights are defined in international law. That is why effective reception and screening are so important, to enable claims to be analysed and protection extended to those who need it.”Jolie and Helic called for leaders to use their heads as well as their hearts in order to create a forward thinking, long-lasting plan to tackle the global crisis. They stressed that the refugee crisis must be tackled at the source of the problem, warning that Europe cannot simply “donate our way out of the crisis”. “We cannot solve it simply by taking in refugees, we have to find a diplomatic route to end the conflict," they wrote.
The pair said their plight reflects the wider issues with global governance, with over 60 million people being displaced by international crisis over the past decade. “It is unsustainable and beyond what international humanitarian organisations can manage. It is driven by a systemic failure to resolve conflicts. Nothing tells us more about the state of the world than the movement of people across borders. It is time to look for long-term solutions and to recognise that governments, not refugees, have to provide the answer.”Jolie joins Pope Francis, Bob Geldof and many other prominent figures making impassioned pleas to leaders to support refugees after they arrive in Europe.
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Angelina Jolie 'quit Princess Diana mine-clearing charity in row over trustees paying themselves up to £500 a day'
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- Published on Wednesday, 02 September 2015 18:00
- Written by Daily mail
Angelina Jolie has resigned from the landmine clearing charity made famous by Princess Diana in a row over trustees being paid as much as £500 a day, it has been reported.The actress is said to have felt 'extremely uncomfortable' after it emerged the two Halo Trust chiefs paid themselves more than £120,000 for a 'review'.The high profile charity, which clears landmines from war zones, was a favoured cause of the late Princess of Wales, and rose to prominence in 1997 when she visited a minefield it was clearing in Angola shortly before her death. Jolie quit her post as a trustee of the charity in May last year after 18 months on the board, citing other humanitarian aid commitments. She is well-known for her philanthropy and has worked as Special Envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees since 2012.However, now it has been claimed she was unhappy after thousands of pounds was spent on a review of the organisation's 'structural, remuneration and governance arrangements'.Chairman of trustees Amanda Pullinger and another trustee, Simon Conway, were paid a total of £122,750 for the work, and according to The Times, Jolie had raised objections over this.She reportedly said that the cost of the review should have been met by the trustees themselves, and that charity funds should not have been used. She had also raised concerns over the Dumfries based charity's decision to contribute towards the school fees for the children of some staff.'She left because she was extremely uncomfortable with the actions of the trustees,' an insider told The Times. 'The main thing was the trustees paying themselves. What she said was, 'If these trustees want to do a review, pay for it yourselves'.'The review into the way the charity operation was carried out after former chief executive Guy Willoughby, who co-founded the organisation in 1988, resigned.He had been suspended in July last year after a 'serious deterioration in relations' between him and the board, and left the role the following month.
Prior to his resignation it had emerged that he had been receiving more than £70,000 to cover his children's school fees, a sum included in his pay package of between £210,000 and £220,000.The review covered the charity's human resources policies, financial planning and legal structures. Former hedge fund manager Ms Pullinger was paid £26,000, while author Mr Conway received £96,750 for his input into the review and for his role as an executive trustee while there was no chief executive. Both were able to claim costs on top of this.Photographs of Princess Diana's trip to Angola with the charity remain among the most enduring images of her, and her son Prince Harry served as patron of the Halo Trust's 25th anniversary appeal, visiting the African country himself to see the charity's mine clearing work there in 2013.His role as a patron came to an end in March. Other trustees of the charity include Cindy McCain, the wife of former US presidential candidate John McCain, ITV news anchor Tom Bradby and Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, who is private secretary to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry. In 2013, its income was more than £26million, and in 2014-15 it received £5.7million from the Department for International Development.James Cowan, the Halo Trust's current chief executive, said Jolie had taken part in a unanimous vote approving the review and had left the organisation so she could 'do other things'. A spokesman for the charity told MailOnline: 'The Halo Trust is a global organisation employing 6500 people carrying out life saving work across four continents. As a charity we are always mindful of the need to spend the money that we receive wisely and this is what governs the decisions of our Board.'Recent attention has focused on our governance and payments to trustees. After a period of substantial change last year, which included the stepping down of our long standing CEO, we conducted a governance review to strengthen our internal processes, to become even more efficient and effective, ensure that we continue to attract and retain the highest quality staff, and to allow us to build a solid foundation for future growth. Two of the trustees were tasked with carrying out this work and running the organisation. They received payment for this, which was entirely appropriate. The payments were agreed by the Board and signed off by the Charity Commission.'The charity is lucky enough to have the backing of a number of high profile individuals including Ms Angelina Jolie. Ms Jolie decided to stand down as a trustee of Halo in May of last year, she remains a supporter of The Halo Trust and our mission to rid the world of landmines.'Jolie has not commented on the claims.
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Angelina Jolie Visits Female Factory Workers in Myanmar
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- Published on Saturday, 01 August 2015 18:24
- Written by Just Jared
Angelina Jolie leaves a meeting after visiting with female factory workers at a hostel in Hlaing Thar Yat Township on Saturday (August 1) in Yangon, Myanmar.The 40-year-old actress and director was joined for the visit by democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi to learn about the dire conditions in which the women work.Angelina is on a four-day trip to the region, which marks her first visit to Myanmar. Her son Pax has joined her on the trip, though he is not pictured here.
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Maybe they haven't seen Maleficent, Angelina? Hollywood star Jolie meets some rather unimpressed-looking novice monks on UN trip to Burma
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- Published on Saturday, 01 August 2015 04:38
- Written by Daily mail
Angelina Jolie has paid a visit to a Buddhist monastery and was pictured bowing to some young monks during the third day of her UN visit to Burma. The actress and humanitarian campaigner was there to meet with religious leaders from the Myanmar Interfaith Group in Yangon.She was also taken to watch a project run by Yaung Chi Thit - meaning 'New Life' - Voters Education Group which is aimed at protecting young people from political violence and getting them involved in democracy.Jolie had been due to visit Rakhine state today where thousands of Rohingya Muslims live in squalid conditions in slum housing and camp.However, downpours from Cyclone Komen have closed the region's airport and left large part inaccessible, so the visit has been postponed and may have to be cancelled altogether. The Oscar-winning star, who is also a special envoy for the United Nations' refugee agency, arrived in Myanmar on Wednesday on a four-day visit.She spent her first day meeting with politicians, including President Thein Sein in capital Naypyidaw before heading to Kachin state in the north yesterday, where civil war has raged since 2011.In a statement released today by the British embassy, she said: 'This visit underlined the vulnerability of women and girls living in protracted conflict situations to sexual violence, trafficking, and other human rights violations.'It was moving and humbling to meet survivors of sexual violence in Kachin State.' She said local aid groups were working hard to help victims, but added there was 'an urgent need for more medical assistance and legal and psychosocial support' as well as a 'strong legal framework to ensure all perpetrators of sexual violence are held accountable'.
Myanmar is still beset by the legacy of dozens of long-raging civil wars in its border areas, a handful of which are still being fought.The army had ruled the country with an iron fist for decades before handing power to Thein Sein's quasi-civilian government in 2011.It has long been accused of severe human rights abuses including sexual violence and using forced labour. Rebels have also been accused of abuses.Jolie's visit comes after an invitation from opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, according to the British Embassy.Officials from the embassy are working with the actress as part of the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative, which promotes prosecutions of sexual violence perpetrators. Jolie flew to Myanmar after a brief visit to Cambodia where she plans to direct a film for Netflix about Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime seen through the eyes of a war-scarred child.She was accompanied for that portion of the trip by her 14-year-old son Maddox, who was adopted from Cambodia.
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Angelina Jolie Photographed on First Day of Myanmar Visit
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- Published on Wednesday, 29 July 2015 19:23
- Written by Just Jared
Angelina Jolie-Pitt stops for a photo outside of the Myanmar Parliament Building on Tuesday (July 28) in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar.The 40-year-old actress, director, and activist was taking a meeting with the Speaker of the lower house, the Burmese House of Representatives, Mr. Thura Shwe Mann during the first day of her visit to the area.“I am looking forward to meeting with many people including women’s groups, civil society, displaced people and youth, to learn firsthand from them about their concerns and hopes for the future of their country,” Angelina told People. “With elections on the horizon in November, it is an important moment for people to exercise their democratic rights and help to address the fundamental issues critical to a peaceful future.” Angelina is a Special Envoy of UN High Commissioner for Refugees since her appointment in 2012.
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