Amal and George Clooney are well known for their charitable and philanthropic endeavours. Amal is a barrister specialising in human rights law, for one, and George has long given his time and money to various political endeavours.

And now they’ve opened up about their latest move – opening their home to a Yazidi refugee, Hazim Avdal, who recently fled Iraq.

Speaking to David Letterman on his new Netflix series, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, Amal said that she had “had the privilege of representing a number of Yazidis who have been the victims of genocide perpetrated by ISIS over the past couple of years” – and this is how she met Hazim. 

“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, he spoke about his desire for justice, not revenge,” she said.

“He spoke about his dream about one day studying in the US and I knew [George and I] had the same thought, which was, ‘Well, maybe there’s something we can do to help with that’.”

Avdal now lives in one of the Clooney’s homes in Kentucky – and is even a student at the University of Chicago.

Amal Clooney is currently working with the UN Security Council, representing Yazidi women who have been taken hostage by ISIS forces – and George is also working with refugees. In 2017, he pledged $20 million to his charitable organisation, The Clooney Foundation – money which he said would go towards providing education for refugee communities in the US.

Image: Rex Features