Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) is an international Catholic organisation with a mission to accompany, serve and advocate for the rights of refugees and others who are forcibly displaced. JRS has its International Office in Rome and 10 Regional Offices overseeing the different areas of the world. 

Present in more than 20 countries in Europe, JRS gives direct support to forced migrants and refugees, especially those who are forgotten and in most urgent need. We do that by providing psychosocial and pastoral support in detention centres, legal counselling, education for children and adults, and many social and cultural activities as well as by advocating for structural changes in policies and legislations both at national and European level.

The Europe Regional Office facilitates a network of the Country Offices through common planning and project work.

Web site: https://jrseurope.org/

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the organizations of the Jesuits have served and accompanied 100.765 people fleeing violence. Coordinated by JRS Europe and the Xavier Network, in collaboration with NGOs and local partners, the Society of Jesus has provided emergency aid, shelter, psychosocial support, education, and integration, among other services.  “Since day one, we have been accompanying refugees fleeing the war with a coordinated holistic response in Ukraine, neighbouring countries, and across Europe. While it might not be on newspapers covers anymore, this crisis is still unfolding, and we are committed to provide long term support”.  “Our hearts are filled with hope from the many testimonies of both refugees and host communities that embrace solidarity and integration. They continue to show us that in a context full of pain, stress and sorrow, hope is still alive. We are immensely thankful to the continuous solidarity of many generous people, foundations and organizations who trust in the work of the Society of Jesus”.  As the emergency continues, the needs of the refugees have evolved, and the response has adapted. While during the first year more than half of the support activities were aimed at short-term and emergency aid, in 2023 that has dropped to 17%. Meanwhile, medium-term activities, such as housing and education, have more than doubled from 20% to 52% in 2023. However, the biggest increase was in long term accompaniment, more than tripling from less than 10% in 2022 to 31% in 2023.  The One Proposal, which was presented in July 2022 after an in-depth needs assessment, encompasses a wide range of services to be provided to an originally projected 73,168 people over the course of 3 years. Since then, it has been continuously revised and expanded with yearly needs assessments.  It addresses the needs of forcibly displaced Ukrainians across Europe, from immediate humanitarian response and emergency assistance in Ukraine and its neighbours, to long-term programmes to promote and integrate refugees. Therefore, it will benefit internally displaced people, refugees of Ukrainian nationality and refugees of other nationalities, displaced by the conflict in Ukraine.  The report, as well as dozens of stories of the people being helped through the One Proposal, are available at jrseurope.org/en/project/the-one-proposal/. You will find a summary and testimonies in the attached factsheets. You can also find more information about how to donate and/or take action to help refugees and other forcibly displaced people.  We remain united in working together on this common response in Ukraine, as well as on other common projects where we accompany, serve and advocate for so many refugees and forcibly displaced people across Europe.
Jesuit priest working in earthquake-ravaged Syria appeals for support. “Syria has been forgotten. It is like Gaza without the headlines” In an interview with The Tablet, Fr Tony O'Riordan SJ, a Jesuit priest working for the Jesuit Refugee Service in Syria, explains just how forgotten the people of Syria are following a decade of civil war and a devastating earthquake last year which killed more than 50,000 people and injured 100,000 others. JRS funding for those being helped on the ground is due to run out in May this year. To read the interview (which is free to read), please click here.  
Supreme Court Rules Rwanda Plan Unlawful - response from Jesuit Refugee Service UK The Jesuit Refugee Service UK (JRS UK) has welcomed today’s Supreme Court decision against government plans to transfer people seeking asylum to Rwanda and called for the proposal to be permanently scrapped.   Sarah Teather, Director of JRS UK, responded to the judgement: “JRS UK has consistently opposed this cruel and unworkable policy. We now call for the government to abandon it. Forcibly removing people to Rwanda would achieve nothing except to violate their basic rights, trash the UK’s reputation on the international stage, and exacerbate fear and uncertainty among those seeking sanctuary here." JRS UK has directly supported more than twenty people, including survivors of torture, facing removal to Rwanda. The threat of removal is felt far more widely. Through our accompaniment of refugees, we understand the human impact of this policy and the profound dangers it presents to people in search of safety.   Emphasising the continued challenges facing refugees in the UK Sarah Teather added: “While this policy has been ruled unlawful, the profound trauma it caused remains, alongside a raft of other hostile policies devastating the lives of refugee friends we accompany. We will continue to advocate for a fairer asylum system that recognises our responsibility to offer sanctuary and builds upon the welcome extended by so many people and communities throughout the UK. We urge people to get involved and help us to advocate for a more compassionate system.” As a concrete way forward and reflecting the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales’s principles set out in Love the Stranger; JRS is working to: “encourage the extension of safe routes such as resettlement programmes, visa schemes and humanitarian corridors, so that people can exercise their right to migrate in a dignified and humane manner” as well as urging the government to "fulfil its obligations under international frameworks protecting migrants and refugees, such as the Refugee Convention."
Deciding together better ways to collaborate. On October 24 and 25, JRS Europe country managers met in Brussels with the regional office team for the Regional Coordination Meeting (RCM). The meeting provided an opportunity for all offices to discuss the latest updates on European policy, evaluate opportunities for joint programmes and take decisions on how to better work together. Reflecting on the meeting, the regional director Alberto Ares highlighted “The RCM is always a great opportunity to share ideas and developments from across the continent. But this time, we wanted to focus on how to improve our collaboration”. Led by the regional office team, country managers evaluated how cooperation is working on Programmes, Fundraising, Advocacy and Communications and explored opportunities to improve. Throughout the different discussions, the common threads were the enthusiasm for more collaborative work that would maximize impact while reducing the workload on the teams by avoiding duplication of tasks. In addition, there was consensus to pursue standardization of procedures to facilitate continuous results regardless of personnel changes, to share easily adaptable resources and to create more capacity-building programmes that allow to quickly deploy expertise where it is needed the most. Dalibor Renic, SJ, the new president of the Jesuit Conference of European Provincials and one of the two guest speakers, kickstarted the meeting by reflecting on “De Statu Societatis”, a document done by the leader of the Jesuits worldwide, Fr Superior General Arturo Sosa. After summarizing some of the key insights of the document, he reflected on the centrality of JRS’s work within the Society of Jesus. The second guest speaker was Fr. Filipe Martins, SJ, president of the Jesuit European Social Centre, who invited the JRS country offices to connect with the other Jesuit social networks present in the continent, including the social delegates, Eco Jesuits, Justice in mining and the Global Ignatian Advocacy network. During the meeting, the regional office also provided all countries with an update on the One Proposal. You can read the latest information on the Jesuit response to support those fleeing the war in Ukraine here.
Jesuit leadership, and the Jesuit Refugee Service, were both mentioned in the prayers of intercession at a sung eucharist at Canterbury Cathedral on Sunday 30th July.  Speaking about the occasion, the global leader of the Jesuits, Fr Arturo Sosa SJ, said: "On behalf of my brothers in the Society of Jesus and myself, I write to thank the Dean and congregation of Canterbury Cathedral for their prayers last Sunday. As Pope Francis and Archbishop Justin set out in their 2016 declaration, Rome and Canterbury share a certain but imperfect communion. By praying for one another and working together, for instance by helping and accompanying refugees, we move towards that perfect communion which we all desire."
Understanding and overcoming cultural gaps.  On the occasion of the publication of the book ‘Le pari de l'interculturalité : comprendre et dépasser les écarts culturels’, published by Éditions jésuites, JRS France organised a round table on Monday 17 April at the Centre Sèvres.  How to welcome, take into account and appreciate the cultural factors that are at work in the relationship between people of different origins and social situations? How to identify the sources, often cultural but not always, of misunderstandings that sometimes make a relationship complex?  The book Le pari de l'interculturalité : comprendre et dépasser les écarts culturels (The challenge of interculturality: understanding and overcoming cultural gaps) proposes to explore these questions through the sharing of people, both exiles and locals, brought together by the association JRS France. Together, they recounted a multitude of situations in which the other's culture surprised or embarrassed them.  For three years, JRS France analysed the experiences of encounters between people from different cultures, leading to the publication of this book which relates the richness and difficulties of these encounters and provides keys to understanding how to live together better.  Indeed, when the way of doing things of the other person disturbs or questions me, it is because it touches my own cultural reference. It is then a matter of stepping back from a spontaneous value judgment and asking questions on both sides, in order to be open to diversity and make dialogue possible.  Now, reading the testimonies of French and foreigners who tell of their surprises regarding cultural diversity is already a step towards a peaceful living together, and we all need it!  To present this experience and announce the release of this book, JRS France organised a round-table discussion on "The challenge of interculturality", which taked place on Monday, April 17, 2023, at 7:30 pm at the Centre Sèvres. It brough together Véronique ALBANEL, president of JRS France and professor of philosophy at the Centre Sèvres, Alain RÉGNIER, interministerial delegate in charge of the reception and integration of refugees, Elena LASIDA, professor at the Institut catholique de Paris (ICP) and author of the book Le goût de l'autre, A. JAM, Franco-Iranian press cartoonist and illustrator of the book, Michel SAUQUET, writer and trainer in intercultural communication, co-author of the book, as well as Pauline BLAIN and Blandine LE BOURGEOIS, authors and employees of JRS France.  Marie-Catherine CHEVALIER (Deputy Director JRS France)    Jésuites EOF