| |
About JRS Europe
The Jesuit Refugee Service is an international Catholic
organisation. Its mission is to accompany, to serve and to plead
the cause of refugees and forcibly displaced people. JRS was
set up by the Society of Jesus in 1980 and is now working over
50 countries worldwide. JRS works with all refugees but has a
particular concern at present for the "forgotten" refugees who
have moved out of the media spotlight. There are over 20 million
refugees worldwide. A further 25 million people are displaced
within their own countries.
JRS Europe in 2008
|
 |
In Western Europe xenophobia and
resentment against immigrants, asylum seekers and
Muslims are on the rise. The church agencies that strive
for harmony, integration and understanding are fighting
an uphill battle. These issues have gradually come to
the fore of policy making in the European Union. Between 2004
and 2007, the EU expanded from fifteen to twenty-seven member states, thus
increasing the workload for the European Institutions in
Brussels. As a result, the European Commission has explicitly
asked for the assistance of NGOs in monitoring the
implementation of EU legislation and regulations concerning
migration.
This places JRS in a good position since it is one of the few
agencies specialised in working with refugees and migrants that
already has offices and contact persons in several of the new
member states that have recently joined the EU. These
include Malta, Slovenia, Poland, Slovakia, Czech
Republic and Romania. |
Last year [2007] for the first time in five years, the number of
asylum applications in the EU increased by approximately 11%,
with the largest groups of asylum applicants coming from Iraq,
Russia and Pakistan. Given current trends, many of these
applicants will not be successful in their quests for asylum,
and those who are faced with expulsion, will
remain in Europe and will face destitution. Unable to return home,
and equally, unable to avail of basic social services in their
adopted home.
It must be accepted that Europe is now a continent of
immigration. It is estimated in the coming years 44
million people will leave the labour market and that Europe will
face severe labour shortages. With rising employment,
wages and falling immigration rates from Poland , Ukraine and
Morocco, EU member states must embrace immigration from outside
the immediate borders of the EU. It is
imperative for the welfare of immigrants, and to the benefit of
European labour markets, that both migration-producing states
and the European Commission make it easier for people to migrate
to Europe easily.
The consequence of inaction from European institutions will mean
irregular migration remains the rule, rather than the exception,
bringing with it all the risks of exploitation and abuse that
these migrants face on their searches for a better life.
It is ironic that while awareness is growing that Europe needs
migrants, little progress is being to encourage resettlement of
refugees from countries outside the EU.
|
In Europe, JRS works in 20 countries, including Lebanon. Activities include:
- visiting asylum seekers in detention
- giving legal advice to asylum seekers and irregular migrants
- counseling those traumatised by persecution and flight
- serving as chaplains in open reception or accommodation
centres as well as in closed facilities or premises
(detention)
- providing food and shelter to destitute migrants.
To find out more about JRS activities in Europe
click here
|
 |
Our Motivation
The Jesuit Refugee Service Vision
In 2005 the Jesuit Refugee Service celebrated 25 years of
existence. While the social injustice that prevails in the World
gives little cause for celebration, it is however a time for
reflecting on the initial vision of the organisation, which
placed a special emphasis on “being with, rather than doing for”
refugees. This vision complements our work of catering to the
material and spiritual needs of those displaced and supporting
them towards a fuller and more independent life. In this way
there is a special dimension to the work of JRS, which is
sometimes lacking elsewhere.
On 14th November 1980 Fr. Pedro Arrupe announced the formation
of JRS, explaining that “the help needed is not only material:
in a special way the Society is being called to render a service
that is human, pedagogical and spiritual”. The mission of JRS is
therefore to serve, to accompany and to advocate on behalf of
refugees. The 1990 JRS Review expanded on this vision and the
shared experience of those privileged to live and work among
refugees and displaced peoples:
 |
“We want our presence among refugees to be one of sharing with
them, of accompaniment, of walking together along the same path.
In so far as possible we want to feel what they have felt,
suffer as they have, share the same hopes and aspirations, see
the world through their eyes. We ourselves would like to become
one with the refugees and displaced peoples so that, all
together, we can begin the search for a new life.
This attempt to identify with the poor and rejected,
however hesitant and imperfect, has brought us untold
blessings. For by their very poverty, they teach us to
be detached from material possessions and our own
selves. Their insecurity and uncertainty about the
future show us how not to rely merely on ourselves or on
human planning. Their cultural values and simple dignity
as human beings remind us that a person’s worth is
determined by what he is rather than by what he has. |
Their openness and generosity often challenge us to share with
them and others all that we have and are. Their happiness and
laughter in the midst of suffering help us understand better the
true meaning of suffering. Their deep faith and unfailing hope
leads us to rediscover these spiritual values in our own lives.”
Indeed accompanying refugees is also a way to “internationalise”
a situation- the presence of an international team has been
known to prevent attacks. Moreover, our presence with refugees
can be a sign. When a free person chooses to accompany
faithfully those who are not free - who have no choice but to be
there - it is a way of eliciting hope. Hope is a grace that gives
the strength which enables us to live fully in the present
moment. It is the JRS’ role to help change a refugee camp from
a place to survive in to a time and place for growth. Refugees
often arrive in exile without shoes, with only one torn shirt,
hungry, without a clear plan. But they do not undergo this
experience in order to get a shirt or shoes. Their human
experience calls for our respect. It is our role to listen.
The Jesuit Refugee Service in Europe is a project of the
Jesuit European Provincials
“Refugees are among the most vulnerable today. They have left
their homes, their families and they bring with them few
possessions. Perhaps all they have left is their dignity as
human beings. We must respect this dignity, safeguard it and
work to enhance it.” Message of European Jesuit Provincials on the occasion of the
20th anniversary of JRS, November 2000.
|
