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Stiller visits a transit shelter

Michael Muller/UNHCR

Guatemala. UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Ben Stiller meets refugees

Ben Stiller, a Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, traveled to Guatemala from June 30 to July 3 to meet with refugees who have fled their homes due to gang violence.

“As a Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, I recently travelled to Guatemala to meet refugees who have fled unimaginable violence at the hands of armed criminal groups,” Stiller tells PEOPLE. “I spent time in a UNHCR-supported transit shelter, a safe place where refugees can eat, sleep and shower for a night. I met with a group of new arrivals at the shelter and was surprised to find one of the men had his three-year-old son with him. The little boy came and sat on my lap for the entire meeting.”

02of 04Stiller talks to a father and sonMichael Muller/UNHCRAt the same transit shelter, Stiller met with a father and son. Many refugees who pass through this shelter and others like it on their journey north are fleeing violence from criminal groups and gangs.UNHCR works on the ground at the shelters to aid the refugees, offering information and advice about seeking asylum while also offering a safe place to stay.

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Stiller talks to a father and son

Guatemala. UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Ben Stiller visits refugees

At the same transit shelter, Stiller met with a father and son. Many refugees who pass through this shelter and others like it on their journey north are fleeing violence from criminal groups and gangs.

UNHCR works on the ground at the shelters to aid the refugees, offering information and advice about seeking asylum while also offering a safe place to stay.

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Stiller meets a woman who fled gang violence

Guatemala. UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Ben Stiller visits refugees

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Stiller meets with a male refugee

Guatemala. UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Ben Stiller meets refugees

source: people.com