JRS Asia Pacific

 

JRS Asia Pacific was founded in 1981 to assist Vietnamese boat people and Cambodians fleeing the Khmer Rouge and is now one of 10 geographic regions of the Jesuit Refugee Service. With a regional office in Bangkok, JRS Asia Pacific supports refugees and other forcibly displaced people in seven countries: Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.

The situation in the region varies from country to country, as there are different laws and asylum processes in each place. JRS works in many different contexts, including urban areas and camps for refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs).

Education for refugees is a top priority for JRS. JRS provides basic education and post-secondary opportunities, through vocation and digital training which enhance refugee self-reliance and resilience. Training teachers is an essential to the quality of learning. JRS engages refugees and local populations in its community work to promote social cohesion.

JRS also works to alleviate the impact of persecution and displacement on the psychosocial well-being of refugees and asylum seekers by providing counselling, psychosocial activities such as art therapy and sports, and mental health education.

In advocacy, JRS is involved in negotiations on the Global Compacts on Migration and on Refugees, but also advocates for the rights of refugees on specific issues such as detention alternatives, access to legal documentation, and the institution of a ban on landmines. We raise public awareness of issues through seminars in schools and universities across the region.

See Our Work

JRS supports the transportation of preschool children to and from the Krung Jor Shan refugee camp, home to people of the Shan tribe who fled conflict in Myanmar. (Magis Production)
Sr. Prapatsorn Srivorakun, a Ursuline nun, mentors Zin Min Thu in a JRS training center for Burmese children. After years of missing school while fleeing conflict in Myanmar, the children learn Burmese, Thai and English to catch up with the Thai school system. (Magis Production)
Roi San graduated from a teacher training course supported by JRS. Now she teaches at a Catholic school in the town of Myitkyina in Myanmar’s Kachin State. (Jesuit Refugee Service)
Sari teaches refugees the Indonesia national language to help them integrate in their new communities. (Denis Bosnic / Jesuit Refugee Service)
Children run during a simulation of an emergency evacuation organized by the JRS Disaster Preparedness teams in the village of Lawe Sawah, Indonesia. (Don Doll SJ / Jesuit Refugee Service)
Junghee, a volunteer, teaches English at the JRS Arrupe Community Centre in Parramatta. (Denis Bosnic/Jesuit Refugee Service)
Reconciliation workshop in Cambodia. (Jesuit Refugee Service)

Contact

Regional Office

Bangkok, Thailand

+66 2 640 9590

Regional Director

Louie Bacomo

Visit the JRS Asia Pacific Website