Angelina Jolie visits Syrian refugee children in Lebanon and calls for more aid

Angelina Jolie met Syrian refugee children in Lebanon as part of a three-day trip.

The actress and United Nations Refugee Agency Special Envoy made the journey to highlight the struggles displaced children face.

She visited the Bekaa Valley on February 23 and spoke to unaccompanied children who had been orphaned or separated from their families during the three year conflict. Many of the poorest Syrians have fled to this region and conditions are challenging with harsh winters and hot summers.

Jolie spoke of how moved she was after her visit. She said: “Meeting these children was a heart-rending experience. They have lost their families and their childhood has been hijacked by war.

“They are so young, yet they are bearing the burdens of their reality as if they are adults.”

She called on the international community to do more to ensure humanitarian assistance gets to those who need it and also thanked Lebanon for opening their boarders to those fleeing Syria.

Jolie said: “Lebanon, as you know, has the highest concentration of refugees of any country in the world in recent history, it is an extraordinary thing and we must do all what we can to support them.

“The generosity and solidarity shown by Lebanon and Lebanese to its neighbour serves as an example to the world for which we should all be grateful. We all need to help them bear this burden.”