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Archive for the ‘Jesuit Refugee Service’ Category
TAKE ACTION: Time is now for TPS for Haiti
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010Immigrations & Customs Enforcement earlier today announced they were suspending deportations of Haitians in the United States:
STATEMENT BY DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY MATT CHANDLER:
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Assistant Secretary John Morton today halted all removals to Haiti for the time being in response to the devastation caused by yesterday’s earthquake. ICE continues to closely monitor the situation.
Jesuit Refugee Service/USA believes the U.S. should grant Temporary Protected Status to Haitians in the U.S., and we urge you to take action today to urge the White House and Congress to grant TPS to Haitian nationals in the United States, allowing the Haitian government the time it needs to invest its limited resources into rebuilding the country and offering emergency relief to its suffering citizens following a devastating earthquake which rocked the nation on the afternoon of January 12, 2010.
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Pope prays for people of Haiti
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010At the end of today’s general audience Pope Benedict XVI launched an appeal “for the dramatic situation currently being experienced in Haiti.”
“My thoughts go in particular to the population hit just a few hours ago by a devastating earthquake which has caused serious loss of human life, large numbers of homeless and missing people, and vast material damage.
“I invite everyone to join my prayers to the Lord for the victims of this catastrophe and for those who mourn their loss. I give assurances of my spiritual closeness to people who have lost their homes and to everyone who, in various ways, has been affected by this terrible calamity, imploring God to bring them consolation and relief in their suffering.
“I appeal to the generosity of all people so that these our brothers and sisters who are experiencing a moment of need and suffering may not lack our concrete solidarity and the effective support of the international community. The Catholic Church will not fail to move immediately, through her charitable institutions, to meet the most immediate needs of the population.”
UN calls for international support in wake of devastating Haiti quake
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today issued an urgent call to the international community to assist Haiti following yesterday’s catastrophic earthquake that has devastated the impoverished Caribbean nation’s capital.
Buildings and infrastructure in Port-au-Prince suffered extensive damage, while basic services, including water and electricity are near the brink of collapse. The full extent of casualties, which could number in the hundreds, is still unknown, Mr. Ban told reporters in New York.
“There is no doubt that we are facing a major humanitarian emergency and that a major relief effort will be required,” he said.
Expressing gratitude to nations rushing aid to the earthquake’s victims, he called for the world to “come to Haiti’s aid in this hour of need.”
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Statement on Haiti from Jesuit Refugee Service
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010Jesuit Refugee Service – Latin America & Caribbean Region shares with the people of the area the great pain wrought by successive natural disasters that have struck our sister country of Haiti.
We raise our prayers and encourage the commitment to solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Haiti, guided by the example of the Good Samaritan of the Gospel.
Aid to Haiti will be coordinated through the JRS Dominican Republic office, which is under the direction of Fr. Mario Serrano, S.J.
Additionally, the centers of the Society of Jesus in the Dominican Rep. (Santo Domingo: Centro Bono and Alberto Hurtado; Santiago: Centro Bellarmine and Cephas Dajabón: Border Solidarity) have established a support network to aid earthquake victims in Haiti.
– Fr. Alfredo Infante, S.J., Regional Director of JRS – LAC.
About Jesuit Refugee Service
Monday, January 11th, 2010Here’s a fun new video about Jesuit Refugee Service…
National Migration Week: Renewing Hope, Seeking Justice
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010Renewing Hope, Seeking Justice is the theme of the 2010 National Migration Week, held January 3 – 9. The observance began over 25 years ago by the bishops to be a moment for Catholics to take stock of the wide diversity of the Church and the ministries serving them. As the face of the local churches continue to change, these materials are becoming more and more necessary. The materials created for National Migration Week also provide an important educational resource that can be used by individuals, families, schools, and parishes to learn about the complex issues surrounding migration phenomena.
2010 National Migration Week Poster Created and Designed by Brother Mickey McGrath
Jesuit Refugee Service/USA supports National Migration Week. Learn more here.
Asylum seekers testify to life in Libya
Monday, December 21st, 2009Jesuit Refugee Service Malta released the following statement to mark International Migrants Day Dec. 18:
“Does the international community know about this, what is happening here? This is what we used to ask each other when we were in prison in Libya.” – Asad, an asylum seeker in Malta
Since May 2009, some 1409 migrants, attempting to reach a place where they could obtain protection or the possibility to live in safety and dignity, were pushed back to Libya.
These actions were widely criticized and held by many to be a violation of international law, as Libya does not have the mechanisms in place to grant protection to those who need it and there is evidence that those returned would be at risk of harm.
“International Migrants Day is a good time to ask ourselves whether we are fully aware of the possible consequences of these actions for the people concerned. We believe that many who see this as a quick solution to the pressures that Malta is facing would think differently if they knew about the treatment that migrants face there,” said JRS Malta Director, Fr. Joseph Cassar, S.J.
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Mayor of New York supports comprehensive immigration reform
Thursday, December 17th, 2009New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg released the following statement:
“New York City’s greatest strength has always been its diversity, and the contributions made by New York’s immigrant communities have driven America’s economic engine for generations. Today, however, our immigration laws are broken, hurting our economy and many immigrant families.
A comprehensive solution is urgently needed, and I applaud Congressman Luis Gutierrez and his colleagues for moving the debate forward by introducing the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity Act of 2009.
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Dispatches from Sri Lanka, Day Four
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009Father Kenneth J. Gavin, S.J., the Regional Director of Jesuit Refugee Service/USA, is in Sri Lanka this week for a meeting of JRS Regional Directors. He will be writing daily updates on what it is like in Sri Lanka, seven months after the end of a devastating civil war that left tens of thousands dead, and hundreds of thousands displaced. This is the fourth installment.
Wednesday, December 2. “Speak on our behalf,” a human rights activist in Trincomalee urged us today as we watched a short PowerPoint presentation on the history of injustice and violations of human rights endured by the Tamil people of the north and east of Sri Lanka over the past 60 years.
Victims of intense shelling during the war seek help at a hospital in Sri Lanka.
In fact, as a Sri Lankan present explained, the harrowing photo was only a small piece of a larger, more brutal story. In 2006, a Tamil woman was raped and murdered while her husband and young children were forced to stand by and watch helplessly. Afterwards, the children themselves were slashed with machetes and hanged in front of their father who was then himself finally killed.
This story and so many others like it fill the pages of the sad history of Sri Lanka’s recent conflict — a conflict marked by inhumanities committed by all sides of the conflict. In a real way, these crimes against humanity force us to ask ourselves not simply what has become of the people of Sri Lanka, but what has become of humanity itself. How can we, as humankind, face and understand such brutality?
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