Angelina Jolie criticizes U.S. response to refugees as 'politics of fear'

Angelina Jolie takes her role as an advocate for refugees seriously, so much so she's not afraid to criticize U.S. attitudes — and presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump — in public while abroad.

Speaking at the World on the Move migration event sponsored by the BBC in London on Monday, Jolie said she is disheartened by the U.S. response to the global refugee crisis.

She said she fears the international humanitarian system for refugees is breaking down, and that countries will adopt increasingly isolationist policies instead of acting together to tackle the challenge. She said that more than 60 million people were displaced globally, more than at any time in the past 70 years.

"I have been very, very disheartened by my own country's response to the situation," said Jolie, the special envoy for the United Nations refugee agency.

She said that concerns about uncontrolled immigration has given "a false air of legitimacy to those who promote politics of fear and separation....It has created the risk of a race to the bottom, with countries competing to be the toughest," she said.

She referred to Republican presidential leader Trump, who suggested a temporary ban on all Muslims entering the U.S. in the wake of attacks by extremists. Since becoming the all-but-certain nominee, he said his proposal was just a "suggestion."

"To me, America is built on people from around the world coming together for freedoms, and especially freedom of religion," Jolie said. "And so it is hard to hear that this is coming from someone who's pressing to be an American president."

She said that UN appeals for refugees were drastically under-funded, and that war and conflict have taken over many parts of the world.

"With this then the state of today's world, is it any surprise that some of these desperate people, who are running out of all options and who see no hope of returning home, would make a push for Europe as a last resort, even at the risk of death?"

Contributing: The Associated Press