“Due to the growth of refugees and displaced people, the JRS (Jesuit Refugee Service) has developed strategies to serve the most forgotten, in all those places ignored by governments, NGOs and the mass media. While remaining faithful to its original vision, in the process of time the JRS has seen the emergence of an ever-more professional and efficient service. Its various projects in the world include: the running of a radio station in Tanzania, legal services in Thailand, psychological and social support in Colombia and micro-finance in Indonesia”, explains the international director of JRS, Father Lluís Magriñà, commenting on the Society of Jesus’ twenty-five years of work at the side of refugees throughout the world. The JRS was in fact founded in November 1980, when the Society’s then Father General Pedro Arrupe invited the Jesuits to establish a service to assist refugees. Today, with 50 million refugees throughout the world, the JRS is present in 54 nations in six continents and assists 450,000 refugees and displaced people throughout the world. Over a thousand people are employed in various capacities in this mission of the Jesuit Fathers, who continue, 25 years after its foundation, to place themselves at the service of the least of our fellowmen. On 21 October, at a meeting in Rome, Father Magriñà will present a review of the service now provided by the Jesuits to asylum-seekers and refugees. Walter Irvine (representative for Italy and Malta of the UN High Commission for Refugees) will analyse the situation of asylum-seekers and refugees in Italy and in Europe in the light of current legislation, while Louise Zanre (JRS in England) will discuss the situation of refugees and migrants without documents in Europe.
