In a new essay penned for TIME magazine on Thursday, Angelina Jolie urged Americans to view the ongoing fight for ‘human rights and equality’ as ‘one fight’ taking place across the world.
‘As the burning injustice of discrimination and racism in America bursts to the forefront, we must also address persecution and oppression rising globally, depriving millions of their rights, their liberty and their physical safety,’ began the 45-year-old actress.
Jolie – who is special envoy for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees – revealed that ‘nearly 80million’ people globally ‘have been forced from their homes by extreme persecution and violence, and are living as refugees.’
Going global: In a new essay penned for TIME magazine on Thursday, Angelina Jolie urged Americans to view the ongoing fight for ‘human rights and equality’ as ‘one fight’ taking place across the world; Angelina pictured with Syrian refugees in 2015
The data, which was published by the U.N. Refugee Agency, is considered ‘the highest number since records began, according to available data.’
‘For the first time, forced displacement is affecting more than one percent of humanity, or 1 in every 97 people.
‘These are people fleeing attacks on schools and hospitals, mass sexual violence, the siege and starvation of whole cities, the murderous oppression of terrorist groups, and decades of institutionalized persecution based on religion, gender or sexuality,’ wrote the Mr. And Mrs. Smith star.
Jolie marveled at the fact that ‘global displacement has almost doubled since 2010’ and that ‘more people are being forced to leave their homes on a larger scale in more places and at one of the fastest rates in living memory.’
Highest ever: Jolie – who is special envoy for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees – revealed that ‘nearly 80million’ people globally ‘have been forced from their homes by extreme persecution and violence, and are living as refugees’; Angelina pictured in 2018
As to why the numbers have increased so rapidly, Angelina believes that the economic crash in 2008 ‘fueled hardship and anger and discontent’ globally, which has led to a warped view of refugees.
‘…Refugees are often regarded as a burden, greeted with xenophobia and racism, and denigrated and dehumanized in politics and the media,’ explained Angelina.
She went on to slam nations for not ‘regarding human displacement as a temporary, man-made phenomenon we have the power to influence.’
‘But from my personal experience the vast majority of refugees want to return home, and would do so, if their home countries were stable.
Doubled: Jolie marveled at the fact that ‘global displacement has almost doubled since 2010’ and that ‘more people are being forced to leave their homes on a larger scale in more places and at one of the fastest rates in living memory’; Angelina and an Iraqi refugee pictured in 2007
Economic crash: As to why the numbers have increased so rapidly, Angelina believes that the economic crash in 2008 ‘fueled hardship and anger and discontent’ globally, which has led to a warped view of refugees; Angelina pictured with refugees outside Mafraq, Jordan in 2012
‘Working to solve the conflict in any one of the top five refugee producing countries, from Syria to Myanmar, would bring the overall number of displaced people down by millions.’
She called out the United States for being ‘quick to criticize the human rights records of adversaries’ while staying silent ‘when conflicts creating displacement and misery involve our allies.’
‘When we start to pick and choose which countries or peoples we help, from our humanitarian assistance to our asylum policies, we ourselves are discriminating: assigning different levels of importance to different peoples, races, religions and ethnicities, violating the fundamental principle that we are all born equal.’
Hypocritical: She called out the United States for being ‘quick to criticize the human rights records of adversaries’ while staying silent ‘when conflicts creating displacement and misery involve our allies’; Angelina pictured during an interfaith Iftar reception to mark World Refugee Day in 2016
Angelina believes that ‘Americans are not taught enough to respect and admire the cultures and contributions of countries with histories far longer than our own.’
And that without this ‘deep understanding’ of global cultures, Americans cannot ‘have a truly deep understanding of [their] own history, and the acts [their] country was built upon.’
‘What has become clear to me through my work is that the fight for human rights and equality is universal. It is one fight, wherever we live, and however different our circumstances might be.
‘There is a dividing line running across our world between those who have rights and freedom and those who do not. Who we choose to stand with, and how much we are prepared to change and to fight, should not stop at our borders,’ she concluded.
One fight: ‘What has become clear to me through my work is that the fight for human rights and equality is universal. It is one fight’; Angelina pictured with Colombian child refugees in 2019