Homepage

Newsroom 		Bangladesh: Responding to the plight of the Rohingya
(Dhaka) October 11, 2017 – The JRS Deputy International Director, Fr Joseph Xavier SJ, is currently evaluating opportunities to support Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, where over 500,000 people have fled violence in the Rakhine State of Myanmar since August 2017.
 Read More >>>
   

Newsroom 		I want to be a just man: I want to go back and help my people who are in great need
Afghanistan, 11 April 2017 - “We decided to go back to Afghanistan because we couldn´t survive in the neighbouring country. There was no hope and my father couldn´t work...He couldn´t earn; he couldn´t support us. So we came back to Afghanistan.“
 Read More >>>
   

Newsroom 		Sri Lanka: Ramya’s story of return
Colombo, 07 April 2017 - Ramya has been going back and forth from Tamil Nadu, India to Sri Lanka ever since she was a child. She first came to Tamil Nadu with her parents in 1990 as a ten-year-old girl, and returned to Sri Lanka five years later. She found the situation highly oppressive with a number of army sentries that restricted the movement of even innocent civilians. Because of this, she came back to Tamil Nadu in 1996.
Read More >>>
   

Newsroom 		International: announcing new Deputy Director, Fr Joseph Xavier SJ
Rome, 14 March 2017 - The Jesuit Refugee Service is pleased to present Fr Joseph Xavier SJ as the new International Deputy Director, starting February 2017. His wealth of experience in social justice research and his work advocating for those at the margins will be a great contribution to the Strategic Framework for the future of JRS.
Read More >>>
   

Newsroom 		From Syria to Belgium: Searching for the treasure
Vatican City, 8 March 2017 - The Voices of Faith storytelling event will take place on International Women’s Day. The event will showcase the important contributions that women of faith have already made and will continue to make in peacemaking and reconciliation efforts. Among the testimonies heard on this day, is the story of twin sisters, Nagham and Shadan.
 Read More >>>
   

Newsroom 		Rome: Farewell to Fr Ken Gavin SJ
Rome, 22 February 2017 - Fr Ken Gavin SJ spent more than a decade of his life accompanying, serving, and advocating for refugees and the forcibly displaced. From 2003-2010 he served as the Regional Director of JRS USA and from 2011-2017 he worked at the JRS International Office as the Assistant International Director.
Read More >>>
   

Newsroom 		Interview with Fr Varkey Perekkatt SJ: giving Bhutanese refugees a voice
Rome, 5 December 2016 - Fr Varkey Perekkatt SJ, former field director for JRS in Nepal, believes that education is what enabled more than 100,000 Bhutanese refugees to be resettled and find a better future.
Read More >>>
   

Newsroom 		Global: Remembering Fr. Kolvenbach’s commitment to refugees
Rome, 2 December 2016 - The Jesuit Refugee Service family remembers Fr.
Peter Hans Kolvenbach SJ, who died in Beirut, Lebanon on 26 November. Fr
Kolvenbach served as the 29th Superior General of the Society of Jesus
for almost twenty-five years and carried forward Fr. Arrupe’s legacy.
Read More >>>
   

Campaign 		Afghanistan: JRS expands education opportunities for girls
(Washington, D.C.) November 21, 2016 – While many international aid organizations have pulled out of Afghanistan, Jesuit Refugee Service remains committed to helping educate the country’s youth – particularly girls and those from marginalized ethnic groups. Fr. Orville Desilva S.J. spoke recently to JRS/USA about education programs in the country. 
 Read More >>>
   

Newsroom 		World Refugee Day 2016: Open Minds, Unlock Potential. Mercy in Motion Photography Exhibition at Loyola College in Chennai.
Chennai, 15 June 2016 - Put your Mercy in Motion and visit the JRS Photographic Exhibition at Loyola College on World Refugee Day - June 20th. Read and listen to the real stories of refugees from Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu and Delhi. Witness how education has changed lives with photographs from Afghanistan, Africa and the Middle East. Join us at the Department of Visual Communications from 10am onwards and celebrate Education for Transformation
 Read More >>>
   
Recent stories view news archive
May, 2016   Like leaving family who adopted me here......

New Delhi, 20 May 2016 – "Seeing their enthusiasm and eagerness to learn, even during holidays. I was fully engaged preparing for my classes so as to give of my best to my students,". says Anthony who spent six months in Bamiyan, Afghanistan. 


 Read More >>>
     
March, 2016   Journeys of Hope: No.4 - My last chance
Journeys of Hope dispatch number four (2 March 2016): Refugees who face a terrifying journey to seek life over death deserve praise for their courage. This came to me powerfully in recent weeks when I met so many travelling the Balkan route to find asylum in Europe. And especially when I listened to Qusai, who needed an extra dose of courage to make the risky choices he did, despite his unique vulnerability.
Read More >>>
     
February, 2016   My experience as a track facilitator in Sri Lanka - Ninoschka Pinto
New Delhi, 27 February 2016 – "Our purpose is to teach them, not so that they take their knowledge of English and sit at home with it, but to mould them in all areas, so they can avail of opportunities..." Ninoschka H. Pinto spent six months volunteering at the Loyola campus JRS-JC:HEM academy in Sri Lanka. Here is her story in her own words.
 Read More >>>
     
February, 2016   Journeys of Hope: No.3 - Listen to the story behind
Journeys of Hope dispatch number three (February 24, 2016): "No one even listens to the story behind." With these words, Iva, a young Croatian woman who works for Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), neatly summed up the most glaring concern in Europe’s so-called refugee crisis.
 Read More >>>
     
February, 2016   Journeys of Hope: No.2 - Breaking family ties
Journeys of Hope dispatch number two (February 17, 2016): The photo was no bigger than the palm of my hand, the formal portrait of an Afghan family of seven. The distraught father took the photo from his wallet with shaking fingers, and placed it in my hands together with his wife’s ID card.
Read More >>>
     
February, 2016   Journeys of Hope: No.1 - A hope that knows no borders
Journeys of Hope dispatch number one (February 10, 2016): It is their sheer relief and hope that are most striking… more than their foolhardy courage, the dangers and deprivations of their journey, and their terrible experiences.
 Read More >>>
     
February, 2016   Global: International Day of Prayer and Awareness for Human Trafficking
Rome, 8 February 2016 – The millions of refugees who cross international borders seeking protection often find themselves in danger and devoid of the human rights guaranteed to them by international law. Whether en-route through lawless territory, struggling to survive in under-resourced camps or homeless in inhospitable urban centres, many refugees are ripe for exploitation by criminal groups.
 Read More >>>
     
January, 2016   Vatican City: Pope Francis speaks out for World Day of Migrants and Refugees
Vatican City, 12 January 2016 – Yesterday, Pope Francis spoke out for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees to be celebrated on 17 January. In his speech, "Migrants and Refugees Challenge Us. The Response of the Gospel of Mercy," the Pope says that refugees and migrants are "people whose dignity is to be protected and who are capable of contributing to progress and the general welfare."
 Read More >>>
     
November, 2015   Pope Francis supports global education initiative for refugee children and youth
Rome, 18 November 2015 – In a private audience with 15 refugees and friends and staff of Jesuit Refugee Service to commemorate the 35th anniversary of JRS on Saturday, 14 November, Pope Francis emphasised the importance of education for refugee children and youth as a means to build peace and foster the development of more resilient and cohesive societies.
 Read More >>>
     
November, 2015   Celebrating 35 years of accompaniment and service all over the world
New Delhi, 14 November 2015 – I joined JRS in 2005 when JRS was celebrating 25 years of service among the refugees. In my welcome speech as the JRS country director of Tamil Nadu, India, I said, ‘The most joyful celebration for JRS would be the day when there is no need for JRS, the day there are no refugees in the world.’ 10 years have passed and the number of refugees is on the increase…
 Read More >>>