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SECTION B INTERVIEW
Damon: First of all, thank you obviously for your time, Angelina. You are now in Iraq. So what is your main aim in this visit？ What are you trying to accomplish while you are out here?
Jolie: Well, I came to the region about 6 months ago. I first went to Syria because I work with U.N.H.C.R. and there are 1.5 million refugees in Syria alone from Iraq and while I was there, I went inside and met with some internally displaced people. You know, these are the people made homeless because of the war. They are refugees. And this trip is to get a better picture of the internally displaced people and to discuss the situation with the local government, with our government, with the NGOs and with local people, and try to understand what is happening, because there are over 2 million internally displaced people and there doesn't seem to be a real coherent plan to help them and there's lots of good will and lots of discussion, but just a lot of talk at the moment and a lot of pieces need to be put together. So, trying to figure out what they are.
Damon: What kind of sense have you been able to get so far in terms of how severe the crisis is and what actually needs to be done to help out?
Jolie: Well, I, in my research before I came here, I looked at the numbers and there are over 4 million people displaced and of the 2 million internally displaced, it's estimated that 58 percent are under 12 years old. So it's a very high number of people in a very, very vulnerable situation and a lot of young kids. So far the different officials I've met with and different local people I've met with all have shared concerns and very strongly, you know, they have spoken out about the humanitarian crisis but um, there seems to be a block in. I'm not good at policy and fixing all this and saying what's wrong, but I do know that, for example, U.N.H.C.R. needs to be more active inside Iraq.
Damon: How do you think U.N.H.C.R. should be doing?
Jolie: Well, I don't have the answers, but I know that this is one thing that needs to be addressed and solved because there does need to be a real presence here to help count the people and register the people.
Damon: Do you think that the global community has a responsibility to address that?
Jolie: Well I think the global community always has a responsibility to any humanitarian crisis. And I think it's in our best interest to address a humanitarian crisis on this scale because displacement can lead to a lot of instability and aggression. We certainly don't want that. A lot of people feel it's a little calmer now. This is the time to really discuss and and try to get these communities back together. But if these communities don't start coming back together properly, if we don't start really counting the people, understanding where they are, what they need, making sure the schools are being built, making sure the electricity,the water and all these needs are being met and also understanding that a lot of the people that will return are going to come back to houses that are occupied or destroyed and bombed out. It's going to be a big operation to understand the needs, to address it to help people put the pieces of their life back together and return to their communities. So it's really just getting the plan together, getting the group together and everybody actively focused on helping the refugees.
Damon: What would be the message that you would want to carry out of here back home or even the message that you would want to get out internationally in terms of what's happening here, the refugee crisis, the consequences that could happen in the future if it's not properly addressed.
Jolie: I always hate speculation on the news, so I don't want to be somebody who speculates. Um but I think it's clear that a displaced unstable population is what happens in Iraq, and how Iraq settles in the years to come is going to affect the entire Middle East. And a big part of what is going to affect how it settles is how these people are returned and settled into their homes into their community and brought back together and whether they can live together and what their communities look like, so it does have broad implications.
Damon: On a personal level why is this so important to you? You are willing to come here and risk your life.
Jolie: Uh, it was an easy choice to make. I felt I had to come here because it is very difficult to get answers about especially the internally displaced people. It's as I said even U.N.H.C.R. who I traditionally work with, they are not able to be inside at the moment and so I was very frustrated and just getting a bunch of ideas and papers but not knowing what's really going on, so today I'm able to talk to all different people from our government and their government and really get some answers as to what is holding up the processes to really assist these people properly.
Damon: Do you think that you in your position can try to push this process forward but, pressure perhaps on our government?
Jolie: To put pressure on our government?
Damon: Yes, so try to just put pressure in general create awareness?
Jolie: I certainly think creating awareness. I spoke to the officials from our government today about meeting our goal, and they still intend to reach that goal. You know there are many different people who can be cynical or say well how are they going to do it, and I will ask them how are you going to do it and is there some way we can help to ... you know ...
Damon: Ok. Thank you, Angelina, for talking to us.
Jolie: Pleasure.
