Syrian teens tell UNICEF envoy Liam Neeson about tough exile
AMMAN, Jordan — Liam Neeson got a little break from being famous. Sitting on the floor of a community centre courtyard with two dozen local teens, he listened attentively as young Syrian refugees — who had no idea that he’s a Hollywood star — talked about the struggles of exile.
A 15-year-old girl said she was bullied in school. A boy of the same age said he used to get into fights.
“They are all our children,” Neeson, a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. child agency, later told The Associated Press. “They want peace, they want to be recognized.”
Neeson’s visit to Jordan this week was his first to the troubled Middle East on behalf of UNICEF, one of a number of U.N. agencies and aid groups trying to ease the plight of displaced Syrians and their overburdened host communities.