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Introduction

Unit One

Unit Two

Unit Three

Unit Four

Appendix

Glossary

Forced Migrants: Persons who leave their place of habitual residence involuntarily, due to persecution, economic hardship, war or civil conflict, or natural or manmade disaster. Among the kinds of forced migrants are asylum seekers and victims of human trafficking, convention refugees, economic migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons.

Convention Refugee: (definition was updated in 1967) a person who is outside the country of their nationality or habitual residence; has a well-founded fear of persecution because of his or her race, religion, nationality membership of a particular social group or political opinion; and is unable or unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of that country, or to return there, for fear of persecution.

Refugees as defined by Catholic Social Teaching: In addition to convention refugees, Catholic teaching suggests that de facto refugees (who are victims of armed conflicts, misguided economic policy or natural disasters), and internally displaced persons (who are uprooted from their homes without having crossed an international frontier) should also be recognized as refugees and accorded international protection.

Asylum Seekers: People who have moved across an international border in search of the protection guaranteed to Convention refugees, but whose claim for refugee status has not yet been determined.

Forced Economic Migrants: Persons who seek to live and work in a country other than their country of origin due to a lack of economic opportunity there or better opportunities in another country. Those who become migrants due to necessity due to significant economic hardship are called forced economic migrants. When such hardships are imposed selectively by a government as a form or persecution forced economic migrants may also be convention refugees.

IDPs: Internally displaced persons are "persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border." (Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, Introduction, para. 2)

To Accompany,
Serve and Defend

 

Forced Displacement in the 21st Century

One of the greatest tragedies of the 21st Century is the explosive increase in the number of our world’s refugees, internally displaced people, and vulnerable migrants.

Since 1980 Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) has committed itself to accompanying, serving and defending the rights of these forcibly displaced people. While this curricular module focuses largely on areas of the world where JRS serves vulnerable and forgotten people, it also tries to address global issues of refugee protection and assistance.

The following curricular module is based on an innovative approach to learning that is built on five important steps in the student’s learning cycle: Context, Experience, Reflection, Action and Evaluation.

 

Some Thoughts As You Begin

"The spiritual as well as material need of nearly 16 million refugees throughout the world today could scarcely be greater. God is calling us through these helpless people." Fr. Pedro Arrupe, S.J., Founder of Jesuit Refugee Service, 1980.

"When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt." Leviticus 19:33-34.

"…I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me….” Matthew 25:31-46.

"In our world there are millions of people who have been forcibly uprooted from their homes or native lands and cannot return due to persecution, war, or generalized disorder. . . . The situation of all such people is, in the words of John Paul II, "a shameful wound of our time." Pontifical Council for Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants, 2000.

"Those who have worked with refugees are in the best position to know that when people have been stripped of all their material supports only their cultural values and spiritual inheritance remain to sustain them." Nobel Peace Prize Recipient Aung San Suu Kyi, Towards a True Refuge, 1993.

"Indeed the foreigner, isolated from his fellow countrymen and his family, should be the subject of greater love on the part of men and of the gods. So all precautions must be taken in order that no wrong be committed against foreigners." Plato, The Laws.

 

Unit One: Why Are People Forcibly Displaced

After studying unit one, students should be able to: explain the causes for forced displacement of people; describe five difficulties encountered by refugees.

 

Unit Two: Who Is a Refugee?

After studying unit two, students should be able to: express the United Nation’s definition of a refugee as delineated in the 1951 Geneva Convention and 1967 Protocol in their own words: express the Catholic Church’s definition of a refugee; distinguish among refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and asylum seekers; compare refugee movements in biblical times with movements in the 20th and 21st centuries; identify four major movements of refugees into the United States; explain the role of the Holocaust in creating post-WW II policy for the treatment of refugees; and describe the impact of 20th and 21st Century wars on creation of refugees and IDP populations, particularly as a result of WWII, Vietnam War, and wars of ethnic cleansing in Europe (Bosnia), Africa and Asia.

 

Unit Three: Modern Response

After studying unit three, students should be able to: identify biases of writers and commentators in their treatment of refugees; understand the basis for their personal views on refugees and other migrants; express their views on migration to the United States; understand that refugees may enter the United States legally though the U.S. refugee admissions program; understand that undocumented persons may enter the United States legally in order to seek asylum; and understand U.S. policies pertaining to undocumented persons not seeking or not eligible for asylum.

 

Unit Four: Meeting Refugee Needs

After studying unit four, students should be able to: explain the roles of UNHCR and the U.S. State Department in meeting needs of refugees and forcibly displaced people; explain the need of durable solutions for refugee populations; identify five U.S. humanitarian organizations that work with refugees; re-state the mission of Jesuit Refugee Service in their own words; distinguish between the work of JRS and the work of other relief agencies.

Download the Curriculum

Teachers, we have made PDFs of the main sections of this web-based curriculum which you may download and print for your students. You can download the Curriclum here, and download the Glossary here, and download the Appendices here.

The mission of Jesuit Refugee Service/USA is to accompany, serve and defend the rights of refugees and forcibly displaced people. JRS/USA witnesses to the reality that God is present in human history, even in the most tragic experiences of vulnerable and often forgotten people driven from their homes by conflict, natural disaster, economic injustice, or violation of other human rights.