Hollywood superstar Angeline Jolie joined Instagram on Saturday, quickly amassing over six million followers. The actor took to the photo-sharing app to speak about the plight of Afghans suffering from human rights violations under Taliban rule.
In her first post, the actor posted a letter from an Afghan girl. The caption to the post read, “This is a letter I was sent from a teenage girl in Afghanistan. Right now, the people of Afghanistan are losing their ability to communicate on social media and to express themselves freely. So I’ve come on Instagram to share their stories and the voices of those across the globe who are fighting for their basic human rights.” Jolie wrote further, “I was on the border of Afghanistan two weeks before 9/11, where I met Afghan refugees who had fled the Taliban. This was twenty years ago.”
“It is sickening to watch Afghans being displaced yet again out of the fear and uncertainty that has gripped their country. To spend so much time and money, to have bloodshed and lives lost only to come to this, is a failure almost impossible to understand,” she added.
Speaking about the suffering in Afghanistan, the Eternals actor wrote, “Watching for decades how Afghan refugees – some of the most capable people in the world – are treated like a burden is also sickening. Knowing that if they had the tools and respect, how much they would do for themselves. And meeting so many women and girls who not only wanted an education, but fought for it.”
She concluded the caption with, “Like others who are committed, I will not turn away. I will continue to look for ways to help. And I hope you’ll join me.”
Jolie, who is a special envoy for the UNHCR, shared a second post on the matter, talking about her motivations behind working for the betterment of displaced individuals. “I started working with displaced people because I believe passionately in human rights. Not out of charity, but out of a deep respect for them and their families, and all they continue to overcome, despite so much persecution, inequality and injustice,” she wrote in the caption.
