44-year-old Hollywood actor and activist, Angelina Jolie has joined Time magazine as a contributing editor, the publication announced on Wednesday. Jolie’s pieces are set to focus “primarily on displacement, conflict and human rights,” and will be published monthly on the magazine’s global platforms.
As a Special Envoy of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees with 18 years of experience with the UN Refugee Agency, Jolie has plenty of material to work with.
The humanitarian’s also penned her first piece as contributing editor for the publication on World Refugee Day, June 20.
In her story published today, the actress underlines the importance of helping refugees in more ways than just sending international aid. “Under international law it is not an option to assist refugees, it is an obligation,” she writes. “It is perfectly possible to ensure strong border control and fair, humane immigration policies while meeting our responsibility to help refugees.”
“As we mark World Refugee Day on June 20, it is an illusion to think that any country can retreat behind its borders and simply hope the problem will go away. We need leadership and effective diplomacy,” Jolie expressed in a statement. “We need to focus on long-term peace based on justice, rights and accountability to enable refugees to return home. This is not a soft approach. It is the harder course of action, but it is the only one that will make a difference. The distance between us and the refugees of the past is shorter than we think.”
The topic of refugees is a global hot button issue and, particularly in Angelina’s home country of the USA, is at the forefront of news. “It is perfectly possible to ensure strong border control and fair, humane immigration policies while meeting our responsibility to help refugees,” the actor wrote.
Jolie recently wrapped filming on several films including Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, The One and Only Ivan and Come Away.
Read more: 5 Years With Syrian Refugees