American actor Ben Stiller is the UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador. The
occasion for his visit to Poland and Ukraine was World Refugee Day
2022, celebrated on June 20. One year after his visit to Ukraine, Ben Stiller wrote on Instagram: "A year after my visit to Ukraine with Refugees, the war continues to devastate lives".
Ben Stiller came to Poland and Ukraine as the Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Since Saturday, he has traveled through Poland and Ukraine, where he has met with people forced to flee their homes due to the current Russian invasion of Ukraine.
JUNE 18, 2022: PRZEMYŚL, RZESZÓW, MEDYKA
On Saturday, June 18, Ben Stiller flew to Poland, where he met with UNHCR employees who help refugees from Ukraine, as well as with the refugees themselves. His intention was both to learn what is actually happening in Ukraine and to learn first-hand the stories of those who were forced to leave their homes in search of safety and shelter during the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
That day he was in Przemyśl, Rzeszów and on the Polish-Ukrainian border, in Medyka.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency reported on Twitter 10:53 AM · June 18, 2022:
"UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Ben Stiller is at the Ukraine border today to meet families whose lives have been torn apart by war and violence, to share stories of the human impact of war, and to amplify calls for solidarity. Everyone has the right to seek safety."
Retelling this tweet, Ben Stiller wrote,
12:24 PM · June 18, 2022:
"Just arrived in Poland, ahead of World Refugee Day with Refugees
to meet people who’s lives have been impacted by the war in Ukraine."
Ben Stiller on Instagram, June 18:
"I’ve just arrived in Poland with UNHCR, to meet families whose lives have
been torn apart by war and violence in Ukraine. Millions have been forced to
flee their homes with over 90% being women and children. I’m here to learn,
to share stories that illustrate the human impact of war and to amplify
calls for solidarity. I hope you’ll follow along and share your own messages
of support, for people who have fled their homes in Ukraine and for people
who have been forced to flee all over the world. Everyone has the right to
seek safety. Whoever, wherever, whenever."
Ben Stiller toured a UNHCR warehouse in Rzeszow, Poland.
In Rzeszow, he met with Marina, who fled Kharkiv, Ukraine, with her three children two months ago and is now living with her sister where she works in a nail salon. Shortly after Marina and her children fled Ukraine, her father was killed back in Kharkiv after a bomb fell on her parent’s apartment building. Marina’s mother is now living in Rzeszow with her and her sister. The family want to return home to Ukraine but their neighbourhood has been devastated by the war. For now, they plan to stay in Poland where they are receiving ongoing support from UNHCR.
The war in Ukraine is driving the fastest and one of the largest forced displacement crises since World War II. Families have been torn apart and the trauma of war will have a lasting impact on many of those forced to flee their homes, including women and children, who represent some 90 per cent of those forced to flee.
UNHCR on Twitter,
June 19, 10:48 AM:
"In Rzeszow, Poland I met Marina who fled Kharkiv, Ukraine
with her children and has no idea when they'll be able to go home.
The
only thing that will guarantee Marina sees her loved ones again is peace."
~ UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Ben Stiller."
After meeting with Ukrainian refugees and volunteers in Rzeszów, Ben
Stiller went to the Polish-Ukrainian border in Medyka.
Ben also shared a photo of his meeting with some of those
families, including a touching shot of him hugging two children near the
Medyka border in Poland.
Ben Stiller wrote on Twitter,
June 19, 10:02 AM, (similarly on
Instagram):
"At the Medyka border in Poland I met families who fled the war in
Ukraine, leaving loved ones behind, with no idea when they will be able to
return home. I’m so impressed w/refugees representatives & how committed
they are to supporting people on their journeys."
Ben Stiller wrote on Instagram,
June 19, Sunday:
“Near the Medyka border in Poland I had a chance to meet some families who
fled the war in Ukraine, leaving loved ones behind with no idea when they
will be able to return home- or have homes to return to,” Stiller wrote
Sunday. “I’m also always so impressed by @refugees and how committed they
are to supporting people on their journeys.”
JUNE 19, 2022: LVIV, KYIV
On Sunday morning, June 19, 2023, Ben Stiller was seen walking in Lviv, Ukraine, in the company of people from UNHCR. A video was published on TikTok in which Ben Stiller is walking around the central square of Lviv near the monument dedicated to the Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko and talking on the phone.
Actor and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador @BenStiller arrived in #Lviv, #Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/BuM5YitYN7
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) June 19, 2022
The Village Україна on Facebook also wrote, thet users of social networks noticed
Ben Stiller in LVIV. He was photographed near the Taras Shevchenko
monument and also near the souvenir shop in the city center.
On June 19 Ben Stiller also met in Kyiv with the new U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, who said in a tweet that Ben Stiller's visit had brought "much-needed attention to humanitarian needs during the largest and fastest humanitarian crisis in recent memory."
JUNE 20, 2022: LYPKI (Irpin), MAKARIV, KYIV
 |
| Goodwill Ambassador Ben Stiller visits Lypki, Irpin. Photo: UNHCR |
He visited Makariv and Irpin, the suburbs of Kyiv heavily bled out during the
fighting, previously occupied by Russian aggressors.
On World Refugee Day 2022, Ben Stiller, Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the UN
Refugee Agency, called for compassion and support for all refugees around the
world and those forced to flee. He was calling for urgent global support and funding, not
only for those affected by the Ukraine crisis, but for every one of the 100
million around the world who have been forced to flee.
In a
statement to mark World Refugee Day, Ben Stiller said:
“I’m here
meeting people forced to flee their homes due to the war in Ukraine.
People
have shared stories about how the war has changed their lives - how they’ve
lost everything and are deeply worried about their future.
Over the
years I’ve had the chance to meet refugees and asylum seekers from around the
world-from Syria, Central America, Afghanistan, Iraq, and now Ukraine.
In
so many parts of the world, war and violence devastate people and leave
lasting traumatic effects. Wherever and whenever it happens, nobody chooses to
flee their home.
Seeking safety is a right and it needs to be
upheld for every person.
Protecting people forced to flee is a
collective global responsibility. We have to remember this could happen
to anyone, anywhere.”
KYIV, June 20, 2022, in an Instagram video
Ben Stiller said:
"Hey, I'm Ben Stiller and I'm here in Ukraine. I'm meeting people who've been
impacted by the war and hearing how it's changed their lives. War and violence
are devastating people all over the world. Nobody chooses to flee their home.
Seeking safety is a right. And it needs to be upheld for every person".
Ben's sister Amy Stiller wrote in a comment on her brother's Instagram
post (June 20):
"👏👏👏Proud of my brother… dad and mom would be too… Amen. You said it.
What else is there to say? 💙💛❤️🌏🌍🌎"
KYIV, June 20, 2022, Monday, Meeting with the president of Ukraine
On Monday, June 20, Ben Stiller arrived in Kyiv, where he met with the
President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
According to a press release from the official website for Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ben Stiller and Ukraine’s UNHCR representative Karolina Lindholm Billing visited Zelenskyy on Monday after their visit to Irpin to discuss their meetings with refugees.
Ben Stiller met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a visit to
the capital of Kyiv on Monday, telling the president: “you’re my hero.”
Ben Stiller praised Zelenskyy for rallying the country and the world
to his cause as Ukraine fends of Russia’s invasion.
The pair found common ground in their shared roots in the entertainment
industry, with Zelenskyy having previously played a Ukrainian president in a
popular television show before his real-life landslide election victory in
2019.
Zelenskyy said that he was aware that talking about war is not interesting every day, but it is extremely important for Ukraine so that the world does not forget and get used to the reality of the war. In an interview with the BBC, Ben Stiller shared his impressions of his visit to Ukraine.
What he saw was disturbing and shocking to him. He admitted that although he has been the unhcr goodwill ambassador since 2016, this is the first time he has visited a country where there is a war.
Meetings with families who fled Ukraine and those who decided to stay in the country made a great impression on him: "The scale of the damage is unimaginable. We see it on TV, on social media, but it's one thing to see it with your own eyes." - said Ben Stiller during a conversation with the President of Ukraine in Kiev.
“It’s
one thing to see this destruction on TV or on social networks. Another
thing is to see it all with your own eyes,” Stiller said during the
meeting. “That’s a lot more shocking.”
"It's hard to understand what's actually
going on here if you haven't been here," Stiller said to Zelenskyy,
noting his travels to Irpin and his shock at seeing the destruction in
person that he had seen on TV only.
The
comedian-turned-Ukrainian president replied, "What you saw in Irpin is
definitely dreadful. But it is even worse to just imagine what is
happening in the settlements that are still under temporary occupation
in the east."
Mr Zelensky thanked Ben Stiller for coming and
told him it was "very important" for him to keep reminding people what
was going on in Ukraine:
"It's very important for us that
people don't forget. It's not interesting to speak about the war every
day... but for us, it's very important," the Ukrainian leader told
him.
The pair also acknowledged their shared interest as
comedy actors.
"You quit a great acting career," said Ben
Stiller, in a nod to Mr Zelensky's former career as a comedy actor.
"Not
as great as yours," Mr Zelensky retorted. Before being elected in 2019,
Mr Zelensky was best known for his role in Servant Of The People (2015
to 2019), a comedy satire in which he played a high school teacher who
unexpectedly becomes Ukraine's president.
zelenskiy_official
Instagram, 202, June 20:
"Ukrainians feel the support of the whole world, many famous
people. And Ben Stiller's visit once again confirms this. Your trip to Irpin
and Makarov, meetings with our people say a lot. We appreciate that you are
here at this difficult time for our country."
On July 11, 2022, Internet user Steve tweeted to Ben Stiller:
"Ben, You may recall meeting this Ukrainian mother and son in Poland. They were grateful for your kindness. Both are now safe and sound in the UK - well, and staying in our home in the Cotswolds."
Ben Stiller wrote back:
"Hey Steve! Of course I do. Please send them my best, and my
appreciation to them for sharing their really harrowing story. I'm so
glad they are well and safe. Also your generosity and compassion is
really inspiring. 💚"
On June 20, 2023, Ben Stiller wrote on Instagram:
"A year after my visit to Ukraine with Refugees, the war continues to devastate lives. When I was in Kyiv, I met a woman named Alla. Her home was almost completely destroyed by a rocket. With UNHCR's help, she has since started rebuilding her home. Support like this is vital to offering hope away from home for people displaced by war. This #WorldRefugeeDay, Ukraine is firmly in my thoughts."
