6/17/2018 Angelina Jolie decries 'appalling' conditions in Mosul during visit to Iraq - The National

Angelina Jolie decries 'appalling' conditions in Mosul

during visit to Iraq
The UN special envoy said the destruction in the former ISIS stronghold was the worst she had seen

Claire Corkery
June 17, 2018

Updated: June 17, 2018 01:04 AM

UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie meets Falak, 8, during a visit to West Mosul, Iraq. Falak has a gene disorder and
PTSD and spoke to Jolie about seeing a man killed in front of her during the ISIS occupation of the city. Andrew
McConnell / UNHCR via Getty

Angelina Jolie has appealed to the international community not to forget about the people of Mosul during a
visit to the former ISIS stronghold in Iraq on Saturday.

Ms Jolie has visited the Arab country five times in her capacity as a special envoy for the United Nations
Refugee Agency, the UNHCR, since 2001.

The Oscar-winning actress, who is well known for her humanitarian work, met with families displaced by the
conflict who have since returned to the city.

Mosul was ISIS’s de facto capital in Iraq and the operation to retake the city left its western area completely
flattened.

Many residents who fled the militants are now returning to where their homes once stood only to find scenes of
destruction.

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6/17/2018 Angelina Jolie decries 'appalling' conditions in Mosul during visit to Iraq - The National

Ms Jolie, who has visited a number of war-torn countries including Syria, Afghanistan and Sudan, described
the conditions as “appalling” and the destruction as “the worst devastation I have seen in all my years working
with UNHCR”.

Angelina Jolie meets Mohamed and his family on her trip to Mosul as a UNHCR envoy. During the offensive to retake
the city from ISIS, Mohamed's house was hit by an air strike, killing his 17 year-old daughter. Andrew McConnell / EPA

Speaking in front of the ruins of Al Nuri Mosque, she said: “People here have lost everything: their homes are
destroyed. They are destitute. They have no medicine for their children, and many have no running water or
basic services. They are still surrounded by bodies in the rubble. After the unimaginable trauma of the
occupation, they are now trying to rebuild their homes, often with little or no assistance.”

“I call on the international community not to forget Mosul, and not to turn their attention away from its people.
We have learnt in Iraq before and elsewhere in the region the dangers of leaving a void. It is also what the
families and survivors deserve,” she added.

The humanitarian worker met families held captive by ISIS in West Mosul during its occupation, including Falak
an eight-year-old girl with PTSD and a gene disorder who saw a man killed in front of her, and Mohamed,
whose 17-year-old daughter was killed by an airstrike during the offensive to retake the city.

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Read more:

Nearly a year since Mosul's liberation, hunt for bodies goes on

Oscar-nominated film 'The Breadwinner’ depicts daily danger in Afghanistan

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