UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie has been on a two-day visit to the Indian capital, listening to Sikh children playing religious music at the Khalsa Diwan Welfare Society in New Delhi, an organization run by Afghan refugees of the Sikh faith for other refugees. She chatted with students - some of the 9,500 Afghan refugees under the direct care of the UN refugee agency in India — about their passion for learning English and computer skills.
Angelina also made time to talk with a refugee woman from Myanmar in the one-room home she shares with her three children in New Delhi. The woman, one of the 1,750 refugees from Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) under the care of UNHCR in India, told Jolie that they had fled after her husband was arrested by Burma’s military government.
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Angelina Jolie for UNHCR
NEW DELHI: Giving papparazi the slip, Hollywood diva Angelina Jolie on Saturday spent some time with Sikh Afghan and Myanmarese refugees in the capital.
Accompanied by her five-year-old son Maddox, Jolie arrived in the capital just past noon and drove to the refugee camps run by the Khalsa Diwan Welfare Society and UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Clad in a white T-shirt and blue jeans, Jolie, the UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador and her son listened to Sikh children playing religious music at the Welfare Society run by Afghan refugees of the Sikh faith.
She chatted with the students among some 9,500 Afghan Sikh refugees under the direct care of UNHCR and was appreciative of their passion for learning English and computer skills.
The Hollywood star, in India for shooting a film ‘A Mighty Heart’ on the life of slain Wall Street Journal correspondent Daniel Pearl, also visited a woman refugee from Myanmar in her one-room home where she lives with her three children.
The woman, one of the 1,750 refugees from Myanmar, told Jolie that they fled after her husband was arrested by the military government in Myanmar, a press statement issued by UNHCR said.
“I am grateful to the refugee families who spent time with me today and shared their stories. They are remarkable, courageous people, it quoted Jolie as saying.
Jolie, on a two-day visit here, will be meeting Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma on Sunday.
Jolie will be accompanied by UN officials at the meeting with Sharma and the discussions are expected to centre around issues relating to refugees and children.