Australian Province issues statement on refugees and asylum seekers
23 Aug 2013

Australian Province issues statement on refugees and asylum seekers

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In a statement dated August 25, 2013, World Day of Migrants and Refugees in Australia, Australian Jesuit Provincial Fr Steve Curtin SJ says Australians need to stop being indifferent to the plight of asylum seekers and start seeing them as human beings like us, in dire need of our help.

“Before he went to Brazil for World Youth Day, Pope Francis visited a detention centre on Lampedusa, an island to which people from North Africa come, seeking a home in Europe. Many die on the sea journey. The Pope asked, ‘Who has grieved for the death of these brothers and sisters?’

Caring for Burmese refugees in Mae Sot
15 Aug 2013

Caring for Burmese refugees in Mae Sot

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It was his experience as an ethnic minority in Thailand that prompted JRS Asia Pacific staff member Sanan to devote his life to helping Burmese refugees and migrants who had fled their homeland and come to settle across the border in the town of Mae Sot. As a member of the Thai-Karen group, Sanan knows what it is like to be marginalised: the equal rights he shares with his compatriots have not always been fully respected in practice, he says.

Working for the needy in Timor-Leste
22 Jul 2013

Working for the needy in Timor-Leste

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The Jesuits in Timor-Leste have established a new organisation called Jesuit Social Services to coordinate and expand its work in a country still struggling to establish itself following decades of occupation by Indonesia and centuries of colonisation by the Portuguese. The organisation is a natural successor of Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), which was established in Timor-Leste in 2006 following a period of intense internal conflict and displacement.

Collaboration is our salvation
18 Jul 2013

Collaboration is our salvation

by | posted in: Migration, Reconciliation with Creation, Social Justice | 0

In late June, Singapore suffered from the worst ever haze in its history. The haze came from forest fires in Sumatra, across the Malacca Strait. A row broke out between some government officials in Singapore and Indonesia.

A Boat Without Anchors
27 Jan 2013

A Boat Without Anchors

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Jesuit Refugee Service Cambodia has released a report on the legal status of ethnic Vietnamese minority populations in Cambodia under domestic and international laws governing nationality and statelessness.  Entitled “A Boat Without Anchors”, the report details the history of the Vietnamese in Cambodia and their legal situation.  It was released on January 17.

A message at Christmas
21 Dec 2012

A message at Christmas

by | posted in: Migration, Social Justice | 0

… this by the tender mercy of our God
who from on high will bring the rising Sun to visit us,
to give light to those who live
in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet
into the way of peace.
Luke 1: 78-79

 

Love is born in the most unlikely places.  A star gives hope to the most unlikely witnesses. Gifts are carried by the most unlikely guests.