Angelina Jolie visits Sudanese refugees in Egypt

CAIRO, Egypt, Dec 29, 2003 (AP) — Hollywood star Angelina Jolie visited a Sudanese refugee camp on the outskirts of the Egyptian capital Monday, distributing winter clothes, blankets and toys.

The Oscar-winning actress, who was in Egypt as a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, toured the Kilo Arbaa We Nus camp outside Cairo with Egyptian film star and fellow goodwill ambassador Adel Imam, the UNHCR said in a statement.

Jolie also donated US$20,000 to build a community health center in the crowded camp, which houses tens of thousands of African refugees, mostly from war-torn Sudan, the statement said.

Jolie spoke about the importance of improving living standards at refugee camps, saying that refugees “are not just beneficiaries of assistance, but, if given the chance, they are also contributing members of the host society,” the statement said.

According to official estimates from 2001, roughly 200 Sudanese arrive in Cairo each week, streaming easily over their country’s shared border with Egypt. Many hope to secure temporary asylum in Egypt before resettling in the West, while many others stay on illegally, facing hard living conditions in already overpopulated Egypt and few job prospects. Some turn to prostitution or drug dealing.

Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. refugee agency since 2001, won a supporting-actress Oscar for 1999’s “Girl, Interrupted.” Her movies also include the “Lara Croft” films and the recently released “Beyond Borders.”