Angelina Jolie calls for long-term Syrian refugee solution

Movie star Angelina Jolie visited a camp for Syrian refugees in Jordan on Sunday, calling for a political solution to Syria's long-running civil war and saying that "humanitarian aid is not a long-term solution."

Children crowded around the U.S. actress as she spoke in a patch of muddy space between hundreds of rows of caravans in the desert camp of Zaatari, less than an hour's drive from the Syrian border.

The U.N. refugee agency's special envoy, actress Angelina Jolie kisses a Syrian child during her visit to the Zaatari Syrian Refugee Camp, in Mafraq, Jordan, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Raad Adayleh)

The U.N. refugee agency's special envoy, actress Angelina Jolie speaks with a Syrian child during her visit to the Zaatari Syrian Refugee Camp, in Mafraq, Jordan, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Raad Adayleh)

It was Jolie's fifth visit to Jordan.

"It is heartbreaking to return to Jordan and witness the levels of hardship and trauma among Syrian refugees as this war enters its eighth year," Jolie said after meeting refugee families and teenage girls in a U.N.-run community program.

"I'm very proud. You're very strong, all of you," Jolie, a special envoy for the U.N. refugee agency, told them.

Nearly 5.5 million displaced Syrians are hosted by Jordan, Lebanon and other neighboring countries.

Jolie said the hospitality of the overburdened host countries is "an example to the world at a time when solidarity with refugees is in short supply."

The U.N. refugee agency's special envoy, actress Angelina Jolie speaks to the press during her visit to the Zaatari Syrian Refugees Camp, in Mafraq, Jordan, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Raad Adayleh)

The U.N. refugee agency's special envoy, actress Angelina Jolie poses with a Syrian child during her visit to the Zaatari Syrian Refugee Camp, in Mafraq, Jordan, January 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Raad Adayleh)

The U.N. refugee agency's special envoy, actress Angelina Jolie speaks to the press during her visit to the Zaatari Syrian Refugees Camp, in Mafraq, Jordan, Sunday, January 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Raad Adayleh)

She said the U.N. refugee agency received only half the requested funding for the Syria crisis last year and only 7 percent so far this year.

"Humanitarian aid is not a long-term solution. No one wants to get off aid more than a Syrian family," Jolie said.

The U.N. refugee agency's special envoy, actress Angelina Jolie speaks to the press during her visit to the Zaatari Syrian Refugee Camp, in Mafraq, Jordan, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Raad Adayleh)

The U.N. refugee agency's special envoy, actress Angelina Jolie speaks to the press during her visit to the Zaatari Syrian Refugees Camp, in Mafraq, Jordan, Sunday, January 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Raad Adayleh)

The U.N. refugee agency's special envoy, actress Angelina Jolie visits the Zaatari Syrian Refugee Camp, in Mafraq, Jordan, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Raad Adayleh)

"A viable political settlement is the only way to create the conditions for Syrians to be able to return to their homes, to end the human suffering and the strain on host countries," she added.

Jordan hosts more than 650,000 registered Syrian refugees, according to the U.N. refugee agency. More than 78,000 live in Zaatari.

The U.N. refugee agency's special envoy, actress Angelina Jolie speaks to the press during her visit to the Zaatari Syrian Refugee Camp, in Mafraq, Jordan, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Raad Adayleh)

The U.N. refugee agency's special envoy, actress Angelina Jolie speaks to the press during her visit to the Zaatari Syrian Refugees Camp, in Mafraq, Jordan, Sunday, January 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Raad Adayleh)