PRAYING WITH REFUGEES – DETENTION
This year more than 400,000 people will be held in detention centers throughout the United States. Reflect with Fr. Jack Mattimore, S.J, a chaplain at a federal detention facility in Batavia, New York, as he accompanies detainees while they wait for the results of their immigration proceedings. Posted July 1, 2009.

LAWMAKERS TO PRESIDENT: GRANT HAITIANS TPS
Sen. Bill Nelson (D. - FLA) and Rep. Charles Rangel (D.-NY) each wrote letters to President Obama in recent days asking that he grant Temporary Protected Status to Haitians in the United States.  Sen. Nelson noted he has just returned from a fact-finding trip to Haiti, where he saw that while conditions are improving they are still harsh. Rep. Rangel pointed out that the 30,000 Haitians in Miami who have been issued deportation orders are now not allowed to work, thus depriving them of the opportunity to provide for their families. Rep. Rangel noted that remittances make up 25 percent of Haiti’s GDP. Posted June 30, 2009.

REFUGEES IN PANAMA FACE DELAY, STIGMATIZATION
Jose Mendoza, Director of Jesuit Refugee Service/Panama, recently told a Panamanian newspaper that he believes the the principal problem for asylum–seekers in Panama is lack of sufficient paperwork to establish their claims.

“When a person leaves his country because he finds himself in danger, he comes without a passport, without an I.D., without a birth certificate,” explains Mendoza.  “These are people who are leaving against their will and for a variety of reasons, all of them horrendous.” Posted June 25, 2009.

CIVILIANS BEAR BRUNT OF MODERN WAR
Displacement, separation from family members and a lack of access to basic necessities are among people’s most common experiences and biggest fears. This was revealed by an International Committee of the Red Cross survey.

Fifty-six percent of the people directly affected by conflicts have been displaced, more than half have lost contact with a family member and one in five has lost their livelihood. Posted June 24, 2009.

ECUADOR STREAMLINES REFUGEE REGISTRATION PROCESS
The Enhanced Registration Initiative was created by the government of Ecuador in coordination with UNHCR in response to the large number of refugees living along the northern border and the poor performance of the current system for determining refugee status.

JRS Ecuador highlights several areas of the ER process that should be addressed to further strengthen this important initiative. Posted June 24, 2009.

IRC SEEKS OVERHAUL OF IRAQI RESETTLEMENT PROGRAM
The International Rescue Committee’s Commission on Iraqi Refugees says resettlement continues to be a critical and lifesaving intervention for thousands of at-risk Iraqi refugees who are living in precarious conditions in exile and unable to return home safely. But, the IRC says, the federal program no longer meets the basic needs of today’s newly arriving refugees and requires urgent reform. Posted June 24, 2009.

WELCOME THE STRANGER: WORLD REFUGEE DAY
Add your voice to the chorus. On June 20 – World Refugee Day – Americans join with others around the world in remembering the needs of displaced people, noting their challenges, recognizing their struggles and triumphs, and celebrating the contribution that refugees continue to make to their adoptive homelands.  Jesuit Refugee Service/USA is committed to give help, hope, ear and voice to these vulnerable and often forgotten people, and we believe a phone call from you can help. Posted June 12, 2009.

UNHCR DETENTION GUIDELINES STUDIED
The International Detention Coalition, which includes Jesuit Refugee Service/USA, believes the detention of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants is inherently undesirable. The IDC notes that many nations are not using the UNHCR Guidelines, and instead are using various forms of detention as a migration management tool.

The IDC has listed a number of recommendations for UNHCR’s consideration and included a list of the top ten elements identified as requiring urgent consideration by nations in relation to immigration detention. Posted June 12, 2009.

SPOTLIGHT ON IRAQ
The situation of Iraqi refugees remains a crisis, one that calls for redoubled efforts to identify and assist vulnerable families and individuals within the larger refugee community, until such time as a durable solution to their situation can be attained.

Within Iraq, immediate efforts must focus on assisting the increasing number of internally displaced Iraqis to return to their homes. Reintegration programs established now can equally well benefit those returning from overseas, as their basic needs will be similar. Posted June 7, 2009.

URGENT NEED FOR FOOD, SHELTER, MEDICAL CARE IN SRI LANKA
Despite the end of fighting in Sri Lanka last month, more than 260,000 displaced persons remain in camps in the northern part of the island country. Tens of thousands are in need of medical attention, due to the effects of starvation, exposure, illness and injury sustained during the fighting.  JRS in Sri Lanka reports an urgent need for temporary shelter, food, clean water and basic medical supplies in Vavuniya, Mannar, Jaffna and other locations.

JRS is not only working to meet the immediate needs of the displaced population, but also is committed to assisting them to return; to rebuild their homes; and to work towards long term solutions for a just peace for all Sri Lankans. Posted June 3, 2009.

PRAYING WITH REFUGEES
In this month's edition of Praying with Refugees, we take a look at those who live at the edge. Those people that we perceive to be on “the margins of life” often open to us a glimpse of God’s kingdom. Not all exists at the center. Posted June 2, 2009.

TAKE ACTION: BAN CLUSTER BOMBS
A cluster bomb, or cluster munition, is a weapon containing multiple – often hundreds – of small explosive submunitions, or bomblets. They are dropped from the air or fired from the ground and designed to break open in mid-air, releasing the submunitions over an area that can be the size of several football fields. This means they cannot discriminate between civilians and soldiers. As up top 40 percent fail to explode on impact, they remain a threat for communities decades after they were dropped.  

The United States is not among the 96 nations that have signed the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, which was adopted on May 30, 2008. This treaty prohibits the use, production and transfer of cluster munitions, requires destruction of stockpiled weapons within eight years and clearance of contaminated land within ten years, and assistance to victims. It requires 30 ratifications to trigger entry into force and to date seven signatories have ratified (Austria, Ireland, Holy See, Laos, Mexico, Norway, and Sierra Leone). Posted May 28, 2009.

ON ASSIGNMENT – KINO BORDER INITIATIVE
Travis Stoops, a Jesuit novice, recently returned from a couple of months working at the Kino Border Initiative in the twin cities of Ambos Nogales (Arizona and Mexico). He wrote a reflection of his experience there. Posted May 22, 2009.

PLEA FOR UN TO INVESTIGATE CHILD ABDUCTIONS IN SRI LANKA
The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers has called for the United Nations Special Envoy to urgently investigate abductions and other abuses of children in Sri Lanka. The coalition says that children are being abducted from refugee camps and from a town in northern Sri Lanka by paramilitary groups who enjoy tacit support from the Sri Lankan government. Posted May 21, 2009.

THE REFUGEE VOICE
Although education is often not seen as an emergency activity, the re-establishment of schooling for children is frequently among the most immediate concerns of communities who have suffered displacement. The universal drive of refugees to ensure the education of their children even in the most desperate of circumstances is a monument to the human spirit. In our effort to respond to the needs of newly displaced people, it is not uncommon for JRS staff to arrive at remote refugee encampments to find makeshift blackboards erected under trees and children copying letters with sticks in the sand. For refugee parents and children, education represents both a return to normalcy and an expression of hope in the future. Posted May 5, 2009.

JOIN JRS/USA ON FACEBOOK
If you are on the social media site Facebook, then become a fan of Jesuit Refugee Service/USA. Posted April 14, 2009.