Between commodity and dignity
24 May 2016

Between commodity and dignity

by | posted in: Migration, Social Justice | 0

Tokyo is gearing up for the 2020 Olympics. While athletes are training hard, the Japanese government is working equally hard to get the facilities ready in time.  To do so, it has recently relaxed immigration procedures to allow more foreign workers to work on the construction of new olympic venues. It has also introduced new regulations for foreign domestic helpers from the Philippines and Vietnam, easing the situation in the previously restricted sector.  With this, sources say that this service industry will be worth 600 billion yen (US$5.45 billion) in the near future.

I Get You
26 Apr 2016

I Get You

by | posted in: Migration, Social Justice | 0

Jesuit Refugee Service Europe has launched a campaign called “I Get You” to map, network and strengthen local initiatives of refugee welcome in Europe.

Across Europe, citizens have opened their doors to people in search of safety – migrants and refugees – sharing meals, learning languages and simply being together.  The goal of I Get You is to identify and bring together community building initiatives for local citizens and refugees in nine European countries.

Living on borrowed prosperity
25 Apr 2016

Living on borrowed prosperity

by | posted in: Migration, Social Justice | 0

Asia Pacific has been dubbed the world’s engine of growth, but at what and whose cost?

China has been hailed by the world as an economic success story. Three decades of uninterrupted growth has lifted more than 600 million people out of poverty, and although there are still roughly 150 million people living in poverty in the country, China’s economic success is the envy of the developing world.

Rest in peace
21 Mar 2016

Rest in peace

by | posted in: Migration, Province News, Social Justice | 0

Fr Andrew Lee Sung-gyoon SJ, the new director of Yiutsari, the Jesuit migrant centre in Korea, reflects on the death of a young Thai migrant worker in Korea and what it says about Korean society.

On February 8, sad news of the death of a young Thai worker came to me. I rushed to the hospital to meet his relatives and friends. According to them, this young man had been too weak to work and had gone to a small local hospital. Several days ago before his death, he decided to go to the general hospital and was hospitalised but he died one day later.

A temporary respite
27 Feb 2016

A temporary respite

by | posted in: Migration, Social Justice | 0

As usual it began with a phone call.  In the first week of February, a call came through from the staff at the halfway house run by the Ministry of Social Welfare in East Jakarta. A group of people needed some spiritual counsel. The people were Indonesian migrant workers who had been deported from Malaysia. The next day, a group of volunteers who call themselves Care for Migrants Network of the Jakarta Archdiocese visited the shelter and organised a common counseling session and a mass because most of the deportees were Catholic.

Advocating for migrants in the US as Pope visits Mexico-US border
26 Feb 2016

Advocating for migrants in the US as Pope visits Mexico-US border

by | posted in: Beyond JCAP, Migration, Social Justice | 0

During Pope Francis’ visit to Ciudad Juarez, a Mexican city on the border with the United States, thousands affiliated with Jesuit institutions across the United States echoed his call for a compassionate response toward migrants by holding masses, erecting “mock border walls”, and signing a letter to members of Congress.

Boston College, Creighton University, and Bellarmine College Prep in San Jose, California were among a number of schools, parishes, and other ministries that held masses in a display of solidarity with Pope Francis’ mass at Benito Juarez Stadium on February 17.

To hear, understand, and accept refugees
26 Feb 2016

To hear, understand, and accept refugees

by | posted in: Migration, Social Justice | 0

On January 21, more than 170 Montagnards (Degar Christians) were granted the chance to a fair asylum process by the Cambodian government. They had fled to Cambodia from religious persecution in Vietnam in late 2014 and 2015. Many had endured imprisonment, torture, harassment and violations of their land rights.

This government decision was welcomed by the Jesuit Refugee Service, which has been accompanying the Montagnards since they arrived in Cambodia.