Amal and George Clooney welcome Iraqi refugee into their home

  • 12/02/2018
Amal and George Clooney welcome Iraqi refugee into their home
Photo credit: Getty

Human rights attorney Amal Clooney and American actor George Clooney have welcomed a refugee from Iraq into their US home.

The couple, who became parents to twins Alexander and Ella last year, decided to invite Yazidi refugee Hazim Avdal to move in with them.

Ms Clooney has represented a number of Yazidis, who have been victims of genocide perpetrated by ISIS, and met Mr Adval in court in 2016.

She told David Letterman: "When I met him, I remember being so struck by his courage but also just his amazing spirit and how he spoke about, even after everything he lost, his desire for justice, not revenge."

Mr Avdal told the couple he dreamed of being able to study in the United States, and they became determined to make it happen.

The 23-year-old is now enrolled in a computer studies programme at the University of Chicago, and lives at the Clooney family home in Kentucky.

Mr Clooney spoke of the adversity the young man had to overcome.

"He was on this bus to Mosul, and ISIS shot the two bus drivers and said, 'Anybody who wants to go to college, we will shoot them," he told the Hollywood Reporter.

The couple are well known for their support of refugees, and last year donated $20 million towards an initiative for refugee housing, education and justice.

Newshub.