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Angelina Jolie continued her work as a special envoy for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Wednesday. The 40-year-old was greeted by hundreds of migrants while visiting the port of Piraeus in Athens.
"I am here to reinforce efforts by UNHCR and the Greek government to step up the emergency response to the deteriorating humanitarian situation," the actress said in a release for the visit. "I look forward to meeting authorities, partners and volunteers working on the ground to improve conditions and ensure the vulnerable are protected."
Photo: Getty Images
The mother-of-six appeared unfazed by the massive crowds awaiting her at the Greek port. Angelina conducted interviews with the press during her visit to the temporary migrant camp, where around 4,000 people are currently living while they wait to either get a place in one of Greece's rapidly filling shelters or get to the closed border with Macedonia.
The focus of the humanitarian's visit was to focus on legal pathways available to refugees and asylum seekers, in addition to challenges facing the emergency response systems and support for vulnerable refugees, including unaccompanied children and disabled individuals.
Angelina's trip to the port came just a day after she paid an emotional visit to another migrant camp in Lebanon to mark the fifth anniversary of the conflict in Syria. The By the Sea actress said it is "tragic and shameful" that peace has still not been reached in the region as she braved the rain to tour a camp in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.
Photo: Getty Images
Speaking to the press while sitting in the rain, Angelina shared her wish to support the UNHCR and help displaced families return to their homeland.
"On this day, the fifth anniversary of the Syria conflict, that is where I'd hoped to be – in Syria, helping the UNHCR with returns and watching families I have come to know to be able to go home," she said. "It is tragic and shameful that we seem still so far from that point."
Photo: Getty Images
Angelina has worked with the United Nations for 14 years and it appears her children — Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Knox and Vivienne — could follow in her footsteps to pursue humanitarian work in the future.
Shiloh has previously accompanied her mother to a camp for Syrian refugees in south-east Turkey to mark World Refugee Day. The nine-year-old recently made a powerful political statement wearing a sweater emblazoned with the words, "Einstein was a refugee" as she traveled with her siblings and famous mom last week.