Priyanka Chopra meets Syrian refugees in Jordan

Team Udayavani, Sep 12, 2017, 5:30 PM IST

Cairo : Actor Priyanka Chopra, on her maiden visit to a Syrian refugee camp in the Jordanian capital of Amman, is appalled by their plight and said the world should be inspired by their resilience. More than 5 million people have fled war-torn Syria since the civil war began in 2011 and have taken shelter in neighbouring countries like Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, Turkey as well as Jordan.

Priyanka, who is the Unicef global goodwill ambassador, has been documenting her visit to Amman, which hosts 1,80,000 Syrian refugees, on Instagram. She shared her interactions with refugee kids, who are desperately seeking normalcy in their lives.

“Today was very emotional. As we go about our daily privileged lives, it’s hard to imagine that everything can be taken from you in an moment. Today we spent the day in a host community meeting Syrian refugee families (like this one) so desperately seeking a safe place of normalcy for their families,” the actor posted on the photo-sharing website, along side a short video of her playing with kids from a refugee Syrian family.

Priyanka, 35, shared that more than 80 per cent of the Syrian refugees in Jordan live outside refugee camps in cities, urban centers and farming villages (host communities.) “Amman hosts the largest number of Syrian refugees, about 1,80,000 people. Refugee families in host communities have limited livelihood opportunities, and after 6 years, have depleted their savings and borrowed money from everywhere to feed and support their families. @unicef #ChildrenUprooted #TheyAreUs,” she further wrote.

In a previous post, Priyanka explained her decision to share the plight of Syrian refugees, especially kids, saying she wanted the world to be inspired by their resilience and their hope for a better tomorrow. “I have never done this when I do field trips, but on this one I feel compelled to reflect on what I feel after every session because I felt a lot. The anger and agony I felt seeing these beautiful hopeful children ravaged by war was so raw.

“The world has seen the pain war has left in Syria but the resilience and joy and hope in spite of it is so inspiring to me. These kids are my inspiration. They should be yours too,” she said.