Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt visited Bosnia on Monday, intending to spotlight the plight of 117,000 people who have not able to return to their homes, even though the Bosnia war ended 15 years ago.
But they tried to do so while evading the spotlight themselves: There were no reported media sightings of the celebrity couple.
The two arrived on Sunday evening, said Aida Prljaca, the spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Sarajevo.
"They are in Bosnia to visit the sites run by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees," local UNHCR spokeswoman Aida Prljaca said.
Bosnian National radio said the couple went to a refugee centre in the eastern town of Gorazde, where they visited two families who had fled their homes during the conflict and had yet to return, almost 15 years after the end of the war.
"I was surprised when I recognised him. I could not say anything, I was so moved," one mother said of her meeting with Pitt. "He came to me and took me in his arms. He was also surprised when I told him that I had recognised him and he was very moved with my personal history. He gave me some money."
Jolie, who has been a UNHCR ambassador since 2001, will visit projects meant to help Bosnians who cannot return home, either because their homes have not been rebuilt or the infrastructure in their villages has not been repaired.
Some 7,000 people live in dozens of refugee centers throughout the country. The other 110,000 live primarily with relatives or in rented housing.
Jolie is currently filming "The Tourist" with Johnny Depp in Italy.
