Miami Herald: Trafficking of Haitian children in the Dominican Republic rising

The Miami Herald reports that earthquake survivors are being smuggled across the border, then put to work as prostitutes, peddlers and beggars.

“All the officials know who the traffickers are, but don’t report them. It is a problem that is not going to end because the authorities’ sources of income would dry up,” said Regino Martínez, a Jesuit priest and director of the Border Solidarity Foundation in Dajabón, a Dominican border town.

Martínez has denounced the problem from the pulpit, to community groups and to the heads of CESFRONT, the Dominican Republic’s Specialized Corps for Borderland Security.

Leaders in both nations, following the catastrophic earthquake that killed an estimated 300,000 people, pledged to protect children from predatory smuggling, a historic problem.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/10/23/1888703/earthquake-survivors-are-being.html#ixzz13agFsR7p

 

Online retreat will mark 30 years of Jesuit Refugee Service

This November 14th we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Jesuit Refugee Service. We recall fondly Father Pedro Arrupe’s sound advice to “pray, pray much” as he encouraged the struggling first generation of JRS team members in Southeast Asia to bring the overwhelming challenges of their new apostolic work to the Lord in prayer.

Three decades later, we once again invite our JRS family — current and former staff members, Jesuits, friends and colleagues—to reflect prayerfully on the ways in which we discover the presence of God in our ministry with refugees and displaced persons.

In honor of our 30^th anniversary, Jesuit Refugee Service/USA is introducing a free 30-day online retreat that links Ignatian Spirituality to the plight of refugees and vulnerable migrants.  It’s an easy way for people to fuse spirituality and social justice into your day .

The retreat will go live on November 1, and will be prominently linked on our home page.

The retreat links the Spiritual Exercises to the plight of refugees and vulnerable migrants and provides an easy way for people to fuse spirituality and social justice into their days.

Jesuit Refugee Service/USA welcomes a new director

Jesuit Refugee Service/USA today welcomes Fr. Michael Evans S.J. as our new National Director… learn more here:
http://www.jrsusa.org/news_detail?TN=NEWS-20101018121057

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Security Council underscores need for timely, credible Sudanese referenda

(October 14, 2010) UNITED NATIONS – The two referenda on self-determination slated for January in Sudan must be held on time, in a credible manner and in line with the 2005 peace pact that ended the long-running north-south civil war, members of the Security Council, who are just back from a visit to the country, said today.

On 9 January the inhabitants of southern Sudan will vote on whether to secede from the rest of the country, while the residents of the central area of Abyei will vote on whether to be part of the north or the south.

The referenda will be the final phase in the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which was signed in 2005 to end two decades of conflict between the northern-based Government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) in the south.

“The purpose of our visit was to underscore that the UN Security Council is united in its desire to see Sudan’s referenda on self-determination carried out in accordance with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement,” Ambassador Susan Rice of the United States, who led the southern Sudan leg of last week’s mission, told a meeting of the Council.

U.S. Army veterans face deportation – decades later

Valente Valenzuela fought for the United States in Vietnam. So did his brother Manuel. Now the two men, who were brought into the United States illegally as children, are facing deportation. CNN’s Rafael Romo reports.

From migrant to brain surgeon

UN urges peaceful election in Sudan

(UNITED NATIONS) October 8, 2010 – The Security Council delegation visiting Sudan yesterday stressed that the two referenda scheduled for January must be held on time, in a peaceful environment and according to the provisions of the peace agreement that ended the war between the north and the south.

“We are here to reinforce that message and the determination of the Council to support you and all parties to the CPA [Comprehensive Peace Agreement] in that process,” said Ambassador Susan Rice of the United States, who is heading the delegation.

On 9 January the inhabitants of southern Sudan will vote on whether to secede from the rest of the country, while the residents of the central area of Abyei will vote on whether to be part of the north or the south.

The referenda will be the final phase in the implementation of the CPA, which was signed in 2005 to end two decades of warfare between the northern-based Government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) in the south.

UN: 10 million teachers needed

(UNITED NATIONS) October 5, 2010 – The United Nations marked World Teachers’ Day today with top officials calling on governments to make up a projected deficit of over 10 million teachers by 2015 and stressing the crucial role teachers play in recovery from natural disasters and conflict.

“Without sufficient numbers of well-trained and professionally motivated teachers, we risk falling short of the promise made 10 years ago at the World Education Forum to the world’s children and youth [of education for all by 2015], because teachers are at the heart of the education system,” the heads of four major UN agencies said.

Jesuit Refugee Service provides primary and secondary education to approximately 170,000 children, and undertakes advocacy to ensure that all displaced children are provided with a quality education. Jesuit Refugee Service/USA has used grants from the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migrants to build and equip schools in Southern Sudan, and to provide teacher training there.

Adjusting, tweaking, etc.

Do some “brand new website cleanup” adjustments this morning, main page may be down off & on, but you can enter via direct pages, like http://bit.ly/ch5H0C

Visit our new website

(Washington, D.C.) Oct. 1, 2010 – After nearly 12 months of planning and work, Jesuit Refugee Service/USA is happy to announce the launch of our new website. In November 2009, JRS communications leaders from the International office, the U.S. office and the Eastern Africa office began collaborating with Omaha-based Adventure Studios to design and build the website.

This new website is designed to present information in a clear way with easy navigation, while highlighting the accompaniment, service and advocacy JRS undertakes worldwide with and on behalf of refugees and forcibly displaced people.