“We can’t change this administration’s policy but we can help defend the victims of it.”
She’s said before that “people don’t choose to become refugees,” and now Amal Clooney has made a sizable donation to help children similarly affected by circumstances beyond their control.
With her husband, George Clooney, the Lebanese human rights lawyer has made a donation of $100,000 (Dhs3.6 million) to the cause of children stranded at the US-Mexico border.
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“At some point in the future our children will ask us: ‘Is it true, did our country really take babies from their parents and put them in detention centers?’ And when we answer yes, they’ll ask us what we did about it. What we said. Where we stood,” the couple told The Hollywood Reporter.
“We can’t change this administration’s policy but we can help defend the victims of it.”
“Today, the Clooney Foundation for Justice will donate $100,000 to the Young Centre for Immigrant Children’s Rights.”
Images and news of children being separated from their parents and then held in cages have dominated the news all week; the result of US President Donald Trump’s zero-tolerance approach to illegal immigration.
On Wednesday, as The National reports, Trump signed an executive order ending the practise. However, it was not clear what that would mean for families already separated.
Young Centre executive director Maria Woltjen thanked the Clooneys for their donation, also in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.
“This Administration’s policy disregards international law and basic principles of human decency. To treat children in such a cruel manner not only violates their legal rights but also their basic needs,” she said.
“We are doing everything we can to advocate on behalf of the thousands of children who are separated and alone.”
This pledge isn’t the first high-profile donation from George and Amal, who are widely recognised as passionate philanthropists.
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Last year the couple pledged Dhs9.18 million towards helping educate Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Dhs3.67 million towards fighting hate groups in the US.
The Clooneys have also welcomed an Iraqi refugee into their Kentucky home, and helped him study in the US.
Images: Getty
