SAN JOSE, Costa Rica - Actress Angelina Jolie spent Christmas Day with
refugees in Costa Rica as part of her work as a goodwill ambassador for the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the agency said.
In
this photo provided by Universal Pictures, Clover Russell, played by
Angelina Jolie, intrigues her future husband, Edward Wilson, played by
Matt Damon, in 'The Good Shepherd,' the untold story of the birth of the
CIA. The fillm and 'The Good German,' another new film, offer a less than
romanticized view of politicking, compromising and exploiting that
followed World War II. [AP]
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Jolie arrived Monday to visit
a group of mostly Colombian refugee children and families and to meet Costa
Rican officials, the UNHCR said in a statement.
There are about 11,500 refugees in this Central American country. Most of
them fled Colombia because of a conflict between leftist guerrillas, soldiers
and paramilitary forces.
"The conflict in Colombia is the greatest humanitarian tragedy in the Western
Hemisphere, but it receives very little international attention," the
Oscar-winning actress said after she arrived in San Jose. "My Christmas message
to Colombian refugees and to the millions of displaced people in Colombia is
that the world has not totally forgotten them."
An estimated three million Colombians have been forced from their homes by
more than two decades of armed conflict, and most are internally displaced,
essentially refugees in their own country.
Another 500,000 have fled to other countries in the region. Together, the
UNHCR said they make up the largest single population of concern anywhere in the
world.
UNHCR said this was Jolie's second trip to the region
since she became a goodwill ambassador for the refugee agency in 2001. It said
she went to Ecuador in 2002 and later wrote a personal journal of her meetings
with Colombian refugees in that country.