Video: Jesuit Refugee Service Italy

 

Learn more about Jesuit Refugee Service on our website:

http://www.jrsusa.org/

Multi Purpose Hall Serves Refugees in Ethiopia

[https://vimeo.com/64842102]

UNHCR chief warns Security Council of “terrifying” situation for Syria

(GENEVA) April 18, 2013 – UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres, warned the United Nations Security Council today that without an end to the fighting soon, almost half of Syria’s 20.8 million people could be in need of humanitarian help by the end of this year.

In an address to the Council by video-link from Geneva, Guterres said 400,000 refugees had fled Syria in the last seven weeks, bringing the population of Syrians registered as refugees or waiting to be registered to 1,367,413. If current trends continue, he said, then by the end of the year there may be up to 3.5 million Syrians refugees, together with 6.5 million people inside Syria who may be in need of help.

“These figures are terrifying,” he said. “This is not just frightening, it risks becoming simply unsustainable. There is no way to adequately respond to the enormous humanitarian needs these figures represent. And it is difficult to imagine how a nation can endure so much suffering.

“I know that, as High Commissioner for Refugees, I should confine my remarks to the scope of my mandate,” he added. “But as a citizen of the world, I cannot refrain from asking: Isn’t there any way to stop this fighting, to open the door for a political solution?”

Lanzamiento de la Conmemoración del 12 de Febrero, Día de la Mano Roja

¡PARE! NO MÁS USO Y RECLUTAMIENTO DE NIÑOS, NIÑAS Y ADOLESCENTES EN LA GUERRA

Bogotá, 7 de febrero de 2013. El Servicio Jesuita a Refugiados (SJR) en Colombia lanza este año las actividades de conmemoración del 12 de febrero, Día de la Mano Roja, con el propósito de manifestar rechazo al reclutamiento y uso de niños, niñas y adolescentes en las guerras y conflictos armados.

Según Naciones Unidas, hay más de 250.000 niños y niñas (cifra de 2007) que están siendo utilizados como soldados, en países como Afganistán, Uganda, Iraq, Israel, Somalia y Colombia.

A pesar de las distintas luchas y campañas que se vienen realizando cada año contra la vinculación de menores a conflictos armados, ejércitos oficiales e ilegales continúan reclutando niños y niñas en sus filas, tanto de manera forzada como voluntaria, obligándolos a realizar tareas peligrosas que vulneran sus derechos fundamentales como vivienda, salud, educación, recreación, etc., y ocasionando en ellos y ellas traumas trascendentales en su desarrollo emocional, psicológico y de relaciones interpersonales entre otras.

La hospitalidad no ha sido siempre la respuesta al clamor de los migrantes haitianos

(Bogotá) 4 de febrero de 2012. A comienzos de este nuevo año, del norte al sur del continente americano los migrantes forzados haitianos buscan cielos menos inclementes que su país de origen, continuando su peregrinación por tierra, mar o aire.

Sin embargo, la hospitalidad no ha sido siempre la respuesta de los Estados de llegada a su clamor, al tocar las puertas de las tierras, las fronteras o los mares adonde acuden.

Algunos Estados les cierran la puerta y otros los repatrían a su país de origen, cuando dichos migrantes huyen de él a causa de la agudización de la crisis humanitaria y la estagnación del proceso de reconstrucción tras el terremoto del 12 de enero de 2010.

A continuación un panorama de la situación migratoria de los migrantes haitianos en el continente, a inicios de este nuevo año….

Haití-República Dominicana: 700 trabajadores migrantes haitianos autorizados para regresar a RD

Ouanamithe-Dajabón) 8 de febrero de 2013 — Hoy la ciudad de Ouanaminthe en Haití amanece con una buena noticia: luego de un mes de espera, 700 trabajadores migrantes haitianos que habían quedado varados al norte de la frontera haitiano-dominicana  recibieron ayer sus pasaportes debidamente sellados con visas dominicanas.

Hoy pueden cruzar de manera legal el puente fronterizo, ubicado sobre el río Masacre que separa ambos países, para volver a sus puestos de trabajo en República Dominicana.

Esta decisión que beneficia a esos trabajadores migrantes haitianos es resultado de un acuerdo al que llegaron las autoridades de ambos países, bajo la mediación del director de Solidaridad Fronteriza del Servicio Jesuita a Migrantes (SJM), el Padre jesuita Regino Martínez Breton.

NGOs condemn attacks on health workers in Pakistan

WASHINGTON (Dec. 19, 2012) – The largest alliance of U.S.-based international NGOs strongly condemns the attacks this week against health workers in Pakistan, who were targeted for their efforts to help to eradicate polio in the country.

“These attacks against frontline health workers are senseless, cruel and counter-productive. We are deeply concerned about the safety of these health workers, whose only mandate is to eradicate polio and whose mission is purely humanitarian in nature,” said Samuel A. Worthington, president and CEO of InterAction.

“Such attacks are not only a tragedy, but also a major setback in global efforts to eradicate polio in Pakistan – one of only three countries in the world where cases of the disease are still being reported,” added Worthington.

Humanitarian workers have been targets of violence in Pakistan and have been under increased suspicion following reports last year that the CIA staged an immunization campaign in order to gather information for counter-terrorism purposes.

“In order for health workers to deliver vital services, there needs to be mutual trust with the communities they serve. Any use of irresponsible tactics violates international humanitarian principles,” said Worthington.

InterAction wrote to then CIA director, General David Petraeus, in February to stress that any efforts undermining the neutrality of humanitarian work would have dramatic repercussions and must cease immediately.

Jesuit Refugee Service/USA is a member of InterAction, the largest alliance of U.S.-based nongovernmental international organizations, with more than 190 members. Our members operate in every developing country, working with local communities to overcome poverty and suffering by helping to improve their quality of life.  To learn more visit our website. 

Jesuit Refugee Service

Jesuit Refugee Service/USA (jrsusa.org) is an international Catholic non-governmental organization whose mission is to accompany, serve and defend the rights of refugees and other forcibly displaced persons.

As one of the ten geographic regions of the Jesuit Refugee Service, JRS/USA serves as the major refugee outreach arm of U.S. Jesuits and their institutional ministries, mobilizing their response to refugee situations in the U.S. and abroad. Through our advocacy and fund raising efforts, JRS/USA also provides support for the work of JRS throughout the world.

JRS/USA gives help, hope, ear and voice to vulnerable people on the move by being present to and bearing witness to their plight; by relieving their human suffering and restoring hope; by addressing the root causes of their displacement and improving international responses to refugee situations.

In addition, JRS/USA inspires the Ignatian family and others to respond together to the needs of refugees and displaced persons worldwide and forges strong partnerships with like-minded institutions and agencies devoted to the cause of refugees and displaced persons.

JRS works in more than 57 countries worldwide to meet the educational, health, social and other needs of refugees and other forcibly displaced persons. JRS services are made available to refugees and displaced persons regardless of their race, ethnic origin, or religious beliefs.

JRS 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 is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. jrsusa.org/donate.cfm?LID=201

School educates youth, lifts community in Haiti

A two-year commitment and $225,000 from Jesuit Refugee Service/USA is enabling a new preschool here to provide education, and nutritious meals, to more than 195 students.

A group of Catholic nuns from the Carmelitas de La Caridad de Vedruna order had been providing the service to 60 children, but with the help of JRS they’ve been able to expand the educational program. Classes were once held in the community chapel, but the new school just outside of the town center opened last September. In addition to the classroom block, a latrine was built, and a well for fresh water.

Fond Parisien is located only about one and a half hours from the Haitian capital of Port au Prince, and saw an influx of displaced families from the capital following the January 2010 earthquake.

“When we began thinking about this project we realized there was no preschool; schooling began here at the elementary level. They were forgetting about the most basic education. We saw a gap,” said Sr. Nuria, one of the school founders.

Read the full story on the Jesuit Refugee Service/USA website: bit.ly/Honti2

Imago Dei — Detention in the USA

An excerpt from Imago Dei: Journeys of Courage, Hope & Home.

Jesuit Refugee Service/USA invites schools and parishes to stage Imago Dei: Journeys of Courage, Hope & Home, a company-produced piece of documentary theater written and produced by the students of Jesuit High School of Sacramento for JRS/USA.

We offer two versions of the Imago Dei script, one designed for a full theatrical production of the play Imago Dei: Journeys of Courage, Hope, & Home, a second script adapted for dramatic readings and small group events. Included with scripts are discussion questions designed to guide group dialogue and reflection after the performance/dramatic reading.

Learn more about staging the play here: jrsusa.org/imagodei

The play is about the experiences of refugees and the forcibly displaced and based on Jesuit Refugee Service’s 30 years of accompaniment, service and advocacy on behalf of refugees.

Students from the Drama Department at Jesuit High School of Sacramento wrote and produced the play. Other students came from St. Francis High, El Camino High and Rio Americano High.

Jesuit Refugee Service/USA hopes the play will allow audiences to ‘stand in the shoes’ of forcibly displaced people and refugees to gain a deeper understanding of what life is like for them.

Earlier this year Jesuit Refugee Service/USA pitched the idea of commissioning Jesuit Drama students to use true accounts compiled by JRS/USA from years of assisting and supporting uprooted people to write a script and produce a play.

JRS/USA hopes the play will allow audiences to “stand in the shoes” of forcibly displaced people and refugees to gain a deeper understanding of what life is like for them.

Learn more jrsusa.org