Angelina Jolie calls for better screening to prioritise refugees over economic migrants

Refugees should be given priority over economic migrants, Angelina Jolie Pitt has said Credit: Reuters

A distinction must be made between refugees and economic migrants - with "efficient" screening needed to ensure those most in need are prioritsed, Hollywood star and human rights ambassador Angelina Jolie Pitt has warned.

In an editorial for The Times (£), written in conjunction with former Bosnian refugee Lady Arminka Helic, Jolie called on leaders to prioritise those from warzones whose lives and safety are in genuine peril over those who are fleeing poverty.

Suitable registration and screening procedures are essential to ensure this is the case, she added.

Angelina Jolie meets members of the Yazidi minority in Khanke internally displaced person Camp in Dohuk, northern Iraq in January Credit: Reuters

Jolie, who is the United Nations (UN) high commissioner for refugees, went on to criticise the UN Security Council for not as yet visiting Syria throughout the four-year conflict ravaging the country.

She warned it should not be down to countries geographically closer to shoulder the burden of helping those affected, adding: "Every country in the world, not just in Europe, must be a part of the solution."

But, she said, the solution to the crisis must be a diplomatic one - as it was not possible to "donate our way" out, or solve it by taking in ever-more refugees.