1. JESUIT REFUGEE SERVICE
A CASE FOR SUPPORT
51 millionpeople displaced worldwide
50%are women
www.jrs.net
50%are under 18
Photo from Aleppo, Syria
“I left my country Eritrea after I was detained because I went to ask where
my father was – he had been arrested and we never heard from him again.
My time in prison was horrible.
Three months after I was released I escaped and entered Sudan. From
Sudan I went to Libya and from there I came to Malta. When I arrived, I met
JRS people while I was in detention, where I spent a year. They gave me
information about how to apply for refugee status. Even after I was released,
JRS was there, the lawyers worked hard for me to get refugee status.
It’s hard to find the words to explain how I felt when JRS staff visited me
in detention, such a very difficult place. The fact that someone comes to
you, to see you, to speak to you, to ask about your health, your case, your
conditions, to give you information. This makes you happy, you think to
yourself, ‘I have a value’, they are doing this for me.
When I saw people helping me, I knew my future could be bright and this
gave me the hope and strength to continue, work hard, and face problems.”
Refugee from Eritrea who has been resettled to the USA
For donations or more information please contact Angelika Mendes-Lowney
Jesuit Refugee Service, Borgo S. Spirito 4, 00193 Roma, Italy
Tel: +39 06 69 868 470 | Email: angelika.mendeslowney@jrs.net
www.jrs.net
Photos by Sedki Al Iman, Angela Hellmuth, James Stapleton, Peter Balleis, SJ, Alessia Giuliani and Fathallah Kabbach

2. 1 CASE FOR SUPPORT CASE FOR SUPPORT 6jrs.net jrs.net
“We wanted to help, but in the end, we realise that those whom we served and
with whom we served taught us so much more and changed us deeply.”
Fr. Adolfo Nicolás, Superior General of the Society of Jesus
The mission of JRS is to accompany, serve and advocate for the rights of refugees and
other forcibly displaced persons, who rank among the world’s poorest. We seek to serve
refugees as their companions, this is key to everything we do. As an international Catholic
organisation and a work of the Jesuits, we are inspired by the compassion of Jesus, who
made it his mission to reach the most marginalised people of his time.
Our services promote hope by enabling refugees to continue their education and by
equipping them with life-changing skills. Advocacy is crucially important, based on our
deep belief in the intrinsic dignity of each and every person. We work so that refugees
may find protection, humane living conditions and durable solutions for their future.
More than 30 years ago, Fr. Pedro Arrupe,SJ, then the renowned head of the Jesuit
order, was deeply shocked by the harrowing plight of the Vietnamese boat people
and determined to see what the Jesuits could do to help.
In 1980, Fr. Arrupe founded the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), which has since
grown into an international organisation that serves 949,000 people with 1,800 staff,
Jesuits, religious and lay people from different faiths, serving refugees in camps,
urban areas, war zones and detention centres in 45 countries.
Our history:
Our mission:
Fr. Pedro Arrupe, SJ, in India
Congolese fleeing Masisi Refugees from Darfur living in ChadAfghani children return home
If you share the JRS vision to reach out to thousands of refugees
who are forced to live on the edge, there is much you can do. We
welcome your prayers, your volunteer service and of course your
support.
Our service is only possible with the sustained help of people and
organisations who share our aims. By joining us on our mission,
you will give some of the world’s most marginalised people hope
for a better future.
There is no other refugee charity that works in quite the same way
as the Jesuit Refugee Service. We invite you to begin a journey to find out more about JRS and the people
whose lives you can help to change.
Peter Balleis, SJ, JRS International Director
MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
For donations or more information please contact Angelika Mendes-Lowney
Jesuit Refugee Service, Borgo S. Spirito 4, 00193 Roma, Italy
Tel: +39 06 69 868 470 | Email: angelika.mendeslowney@jrs.net

3. 3 CASE FOR SUPPORT CASE FOR SUPPORT 4jrs.net jrs.net
Jesuit Refugee Service operates in 45 countries. Offering both
practical and spiritual services, JRS has developed expertise in areas
sometimes overlooked by other agencies.
Education
In most countries, state policies, lack
of opportunity or language barriers
exclude migrant and refugee children
from school.
Only 36% go to secondary school
and less than 1% have access
to tertiary education. Girls are
especially disadvantaged.
JRS reaches more than 238,000
children, young people and adults
in programs spanning kindergarten
to university, as well as special
education, adult literacy, teacher
training and school reconstruction.
One of the latest projects is a
partnership with Jesuit universities
that offers refugees in Kenya,
Malawi, Jordan, Afghanistan and
Thailand the opportunity to access
higher education via an online
platform with on-site tutors.
Special Care
Our counselling, therapy and sports
activities help nearly 176,000
refugees to heal from multiple
traumas and to recover from despair.
When asked to do so, JRS engages
in Catholic liturgical and pastoral
ministry too.
Livelihoods
JRS promotes self-reliance. Building
on the skills of refugees and
assessing local market needs, we
provide job training and tools, make
loans available and help set up small
businesses. This helps refugees to
restore their dignity, integrate locally
and support themselves.
Advocacy
Giving refugees a voice, empowering
them to claim their rights,
addressing the root causes of forced
displacement and striving to change
unjust policies are fundamental to
our work.
Our advocacy has always arisen
from our closeness to the refugees
and this gives it international
credibility. Often implemented in
partnership with others, our efforts
include legal casework, awareness-
raising and lobbying governments
and intergovernmental agencies.
Urban Refugees
JRS teams seek out those in
greatest need by going on home
visits and ensure their basic needs
are met; they create opportunities
for the refugees to meet, to continue
their education and, when possible,
to find work.
51million
According to the UN refugee
agency, almost 18 million
persons are refugees and asylum
seekers, and more than 33 million
more have been displaced in
their own countries. Nearly half
are women, and 50 percent are
children.
Far from welcoming asylum
seekers, wealthier and safer
countries have put up legal and
physical barriers to keep them
away, making their journeys to
find safety more risky and their
chances of finding protection
minimal.
51 million people, deprived of their homes, their rights, their future.
These are the nameless victims of wars, civil strife, famines, floods
and other crises we read about in the world news.
Today’s major displacements
occur in Africa, the Middle East,
central Asia and Columbia. New
emergencies arise every year
and existing ones take longer to
be resolved, forcing refugees to
spend an average of 17 years in
camps.
More than half the world’s
refugees live in urban areas, a
percentage likely to grow. Urban
refugees are difficult to reach
and more expensive to support.
Often living amongst the poor
but facing added risks of arrest,
deportation and discrimination,
they easily become targets of
exploitation.
Refugees are people who have
lost nearly everything. They often
lack the most basic of human
needs: safety, food, water, shelter
and healthcare. And they have
other equally pressing needs: for
someone to listen to their story, to
offer consolation, to help them to
hope again and to find stability in
their lives.
Education opportunities are
crucial because they empower
and protect refugees. They will
also need an income to sustain
themselves and their families.
Victims of abuse, landmine
survivors, people with mental
health problems and former
child soldiers are particularly
vulnerable.
“JRS is a key partner in helping UNHCR to fulfill its goal of assisting governments
to identify refugees caught in migratory movements and responding.”
António Guterres, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
The need:
How we respond:
Hospitality
An overarching priority of JRS is the creation of welcoming communities,
because hospitality helps refugees to feel they are no longer strangers,
but at home in a community that they can contribute positively to.
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4. jrs.net5 CASE FOR SUPPORT CASE FOR SUPPORT 2jrs.net
“A change of attitude towards migrants and refugees is needed on the part of everyone, moving
away from attitudes of fear and indifference towards attitudes based on a culture of encounter, the
only culture capable of building a better, more just and fraternal world.” Pope Francis
companions
Refugees are our
companions, not the
anonymous recipients
of hand-outs. In many cases, we
support them as soon as they are
displaced and accompany them until
they return home. It is our constant
presence among the refugees that
helps us to understand how best we
may serve them.
focused
Following the criteria
proposed by St. Ignatius,
the founder of the Jesuit
order, JRS gives priority to situations
of great need and reaches out to
refugees neglected by others. We
ensure that the most vulnerable
refugees, who frequently fall through
the cracks, receive the support they
need to rebuild their lives.
overcoming divisions
While deeply rooted in the
Jesuit tradition and the
Catholic faith, we welcome
people from other faiths to work with
JRS and collaborate with other faith
communities that subscribe to the
shared values underlying our work.
education experts
Building on four centuries
of Jesuit experience
in pedagogy, JRS is
internationally recognised
as an expert agency in refugee
education at all levels. Our latest
innovation, a distance-education
programme to bring tertiary
education to refugees, is one of the
first global efforts of its kind.
efficient
JRS spends $52 on
each refugee, only 10%
of which goes to cover
administration costs. We
keep our organisational
structure simple and engage highly
committed and qualified staff who
often work for a lower salary or as
volunteers. This deliberately low
profile is highly effective.
global and local
Our projects are run largely
by national staff and
refugees, encouraging co-
responsibility and ownership. Close
collaboration with the local Church,
Jesuit communities and other faith-
based communities gives us swift
access to emergency situations
and anchors our services quickly.
Meanwhile, each local project
draws on the global support of the
JRS network and on partnerships
with other humanitarian and UN
organisations.
building capacity
In our teams across the world,
4,400 refugees work alongside
our local and international staff
as cultural mediators, counsellors,
teachers and school managers,
among other positions.
We are:
JRS IN SYRIA
Few aid agencies have access to Syria.
Present in the country since 2008, JRS
helps displaced Syrians thanks to its
strong local links.
More than 600 Christian and Muslim
staff and volunteers work with JRS to
coordinate and deliver emergency relief.
In Aleppo, for example, our field
kitchen feeds up to 10,000
people a day, with each meal
only costing US$0.40.
UY
Z
1
2
3
JRS project sites:
1 Aleppo
2 Homs
3 Damascus
UY
Z
Where we work:
Afghanistan:
Education
In Herat, Afghanistan, a
novel JRS programme
has 50 enthusiastic girls
teaching the English they
learned to some 300 other
school-aged girls.
“I feel wonderful, not only
because I have so many
students, but because
they are so intelligent and
hardworking. I always
pray to Allah to be a good
teacher and to be able
to serve others”, Sharbat
said.
Kenya:
Livelihoods
In the Kenyan capital,
Nairobi, refugees receive
small loans and training in
basic business skills.
In 1993, JRS opened
the Mikono craft shop
where 70 refugees, mostly
women, sell their products.
Faida, a Congolese mother
of five, sells patchwork
bags and jewelery. From
her earnings she can
meet her basic needs
and pay for her children’s
education.
Cambodia:
Advocacy
JRS played a key role in
starting the International
Campaign to Ban
Landmines. In 1997, ex-
soldier Tun Chunnareth
rode his wheelchair onto
the stage in Oslo to
receive the Nobel Peace
Prize on behalf of the
campaign. Still working
with JRS, he is continuing
his crusade against
landmines. “We are all
landmine victims when we
refuse to de-mine or assist
communities”, says Tun.
France:
Hospitality
In France, families and
religious communities
welcome asylum seekers
into their homes. They
form part of the JRS
“Welcome Network” that
also offers legal support,
language courses and
get-togethers. Says
Nadette: “Young Afghans
have come to stay, and I
am discovering the reality
in their country and the
horrors of displacement.
I am also discovering the
joy of receiving.”
JRS International in Rome supports 10 regional offices,
serving 949,000 people in 45 countries.