Angelina Jolie urges Europe to prioritise refugees from war torn countries saying they are in more need than economic migrants

  • Actress has waded into crisis of thousands of migrants coming to Europe
  • Says there should be distinction between refugees and economic migrants 
  • Adds effective screening of migrants could give them protection they need
  • She also criticised governments for failing to resolve global conflicts  

By Jennifer Newton for MailOnline

Published: 06:40 EST, 7 September 2015 | Updated: 13:05 EST, 7 September 2015

Angelina Jolie has called for a distinction to be made between those fleeing war and those escaping extreme poverty saying those at most risk need to be saved from persecution and danger.

The actress, who is also a human rights activist, waded into the European migrant crisis, and also criticised a failure to resolve global conflicts. 

She also suggested that effective screening of migrants could be more efficient and give those in danger need the protection they needed. 

Scroll down for video 

Actress Angelina Jolie, who has waded into the European migrant crisis, saying there should be a distinction made between those fleeing war and economic migrants 

Actress Angelina Jolie, who has waded into the European migrant crisis, saying there should be a distinction made between those fleeing war and economic migrants 

Her comments come as hundreds of thousands of people have made risky journeys recently to flee wars in the Middle East, particularly the four-year-old civil war in Syria, as well as conflict and poverty in Africa and Asia, and there is no consensus among European nations on how to cope with the influx.

But writing an editorial in The Times today with Arminka Helic, a former Bosnian refugee and member of Brtiain's upper house of parliament, she said the world must face some hard truths. 

She wrote: 'We should be conscious of the distinction between economic migrants, who are trying to escape extreme poverty, and refugees who are fleeing an immediate threat to their lives.

'Syrians are fleeing barrel bombs, chemical weapons, rape and massacres.'

The problem will continue until the international community helps to find a diplomatic end to the conflict in Syria, they said.

The actress also suggested that effective screening of migrants could be more efficient and give those in danger need the protection they needed

The actress also suggested that effective screening of migrants could be more efficient and give those in danger need the protection they needed

Pope Francis has also called on every Catholic parish and religious community in Europe to take in at least one refugee family

Pope Francis has also called on every Catholic parish and religious community in Europe to take in at least one refugee family

The pair also added: 'We cannot donate our way out of the crisis, we cannot solve it simply by taking in refugees.'

And criticising a global systematic failure to resolve conflicts, they wrote: 'Nothing tells us more about the state of the world than the movement of people across borders.' 

Her comments come after Germany, which expects to receive 800,000 refugees and migrants this year, and Austria opened their borders in recent days to thousands of mostly Syrian refugees who had been stranded in Hungary.

However, today, the Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban said that large numbers of migrants entering Europe should be seen as immigrants, not as refugees, because they are seeking a 'German life' and refuse to stay in the first safe country they reach 

Her comments come as hundreds of thousands of people have made risky journeys recently to flee wars in the Middle East, particularly the four-year-old civil war in Syria

Her comments come as hundreds of thousands of people have made risky journeys recently to flee wars in the Middle East, particularly the four-year-old civil war in Syria

Syrians, Iraqis and others entering Greece, Macedonia, Serbia or Hungary are safe in those countries and, in line with EU rules, should have their asylum applications processed there, Orban told a gathering of Hungarian diplomats in Budapest.

'If they want to continue on from Hungary, it's not because they are in danger, it's because they want something else,' he said, adding that the migrants' target was Germany and 'a German life' not physical safety.

His comments came as President Francois Hollande warned that without a united EU policy to share the burden of migrants, the borderless Schengen system would collapse.

Meanwhile yesterday, Pope Francis called on every Catholic parish and religious community in Europe to take in at least one refugee family. 

He follows Band Aid founder Bob Geldof, who made a highly publicised offer to shelter four refugee families in his homes in Britain. 

Comments (9)

Share what you think

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

Add your comment

By posting your comment you agree to our house rules.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now