On May 19, Jesuit Refugee Service Asia Pacific issued a statement calling for Southeast Asian nations and the global community to respond to the suffering of the Rohingya people who have been fleeing Myanmar in unprecedented numbers in recent weeks. Thousands did so by boat and were stranded at sea after being turned away by Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia.
Indian Jesuit Fr Alexis Prem Kumar SJ has been released by the Taliban after eight months in captivity. Fr Prem had worked for three years as Afghanistan country director for Jesuit Refugee Service in Herat province when he was abducted by gunmen in June last year.
Jesuit Refugee Service Australia has opened a new drop-in centre to address a lack of asylum seeker services in Western Sydney. The project is the result of a needs assessment undertaken by JRS in 2014, which found that the region is home to New South Wales’ second-largest group of asylum seekers arriving by boat and living on bridging visas.
On June 19, Jesuit Refugee Service Syria was honoured with the 2014 Prix Caritas award in a ceremony in Lucerne, Switzerland. Nawras Sammour SJ, JRS Middle East North Africa Director, received the award on behalf of JRS Syria.
The award honours JRS for its “tireless and courageous commitment for the benefit of the persecuted and suffering people in Syria. For bearing witness in the form of humanitarian aid, standing by people in need irrespective of their religious and ethnic affiliations”.
How can Australia expand its goodwill so as to provide sanctuary and sustenance to refugees knocking on its door? This question was posed by Jesuit Refugee Service Australia during Refugee Week 2014 when it teamed up with The Wayside Chapel in Sydney to present a photo exhibition chronicling the resilience of refugees and the hospitality of their host countries.
At Pentecost the believers celebrated that they were “no longer strangers and sojourners, but a dwelling place of the Spirit” (Eph 2:19-22). With World Refugee Day just a couple of weeks away on June 20, I am reminded yet again that the experiences of refugees, who long to be “no longer strangers and sojourners”, and the celebration of Pentecost find a common thread in the life of Jesus and the message he gave to the Church.
Amongst those present for the publication of the 2014 Centro Astalli Annual report in Rome, was the Director of the Vatican Press Office, Fr Federico Lombardi SJ.
The event took place as yet another rescue effort by the Italian Navy in the Mediterranean lent assistance to an overcrowded boat in difficulty carrying some 200 people, many of whom women and children. Amongst them, at least one person has reportedly died.
The 2014 Pax Christi International Peace Award has been granted to Jesuit Refugee Service Syria (JRS Syria) for its outstanding dedication in providing emergency relief to Syrians since the war began in 2012. According to the latest UN statistics, more than 9 million Syrians are in dire need of humanitarian assistance, including 6,5 million internally displaced persons and 2,6 million refugees in neighbouring countries.
How can we accompany refugees without responding to their longing for healing and peace? This is the question posed in a newly-published guide that aims to strengthen the role of Jesuit Refugee Service in the reconciliation of groups of people displaced through conflict.
After his visit to Lampedusa, Pope Francis again made a call in favour of welcoming refugees at a visit to the soup kitchen of Centro Astalli (Jesuit Refugee Service Italy).
Refugees endure terrible journeys fleeing violence and conflict in their countries of origin in the hope they will be able to offer a better life to their children, the Pope told those gathered in the Chiesa del Gesù, a Jesuit church in the centre of Rome where the headquarters of JRS Italy is located.