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Friday, March 29, 2024  
18 Ramadan 1445  

Angelina Jolie visits war-torn Yemen, meets refugees

Hopes visit will draw attention towards the seven-year-old conflict, while the world calls out Ukraine's crisis
Angelina Jolie arrives in Yemen to meet refugees. Source: UNHCR Website
Angelina Jolie arrives in Yemen to meet refugees. Source: UNHCR Website

American actress and United Nations special envoy for refugees, Angelia Jolie arrived in Aden on Sunday to show solidarity with families displaced by the ongoing civil war.

Jolie took to Instagram to announce her visit and said she has gone to “show my support for the people of Yemen,” and called their situation one of the “worst humanitarian crises in the world, with one civilian killed or injured every hour in 2022.”

She added she will be communicating from the ground, where she can, as her trip continues.

She also mentioned the Ukrainian war and crisis and said “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.”

Jolie landed in Yemen on March 6, with the hopes of pulling the world’s attention to consequences of the seven-year war.

The war in Yemen has been ongoing since 2014, when Iran-backed Houthi rebels took control of the capital Sanaa. They forced the government to first flee to the south and then to Saudi Arabia. A Saudi-led, US backed coalition entered the war a year later to try and restore Yemen’s government.

At least 150,000 people have died in the conflict, which is now more a proxy war while according to UN’s refugee agency, at least 66% of Yemen’s population now rely on humanitarian aid. At least 13 million people are at the risk of starvation, due to the long conflict as well as the lack of funding, according to World Food Programme head David Beasley.

The U.N. humanitarian office reported that the 2021 humanitarian plan for Yemen received $2.27 billion out of its $3.85 billion requirement, the lowest funding level since 2015.

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