World Refugee Day event 2009: Angelina Jolie speaks

Angelina Jolie speaks at a 2009 World Refugee Day event: Refugees aren't numbers

At an event marking the launch of activities in the United States for World Refugee Day, UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie appeared alongside UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres to call on the world to recognize millions of victims of conflict around the world not as a burden but as a potential gift. As an American, she said, "I know the strength that diversity has given my country - a country built by what some would now dismiss as asylum-seekers and economic migrants - and I believe we must persuade the world that refugees must not be simply viewed as a burden. They are the survivors. And they can bring those qualities to the service of their communities and the countries that shelter them.