JRS anniversary: 30 years serving, advocating and accompanying
On November 14, 1980, in a world context dominated by ideologies, the Jesuits moved to answer the humanitarian needs of the Vietnamese "boat people". This is how the Jesuit Refugee Service, JRS, was born. Today, the number of displaced by force worldwide has gone from 16 to 45 million. Thirty years after that vision by its founding father and ex superior of the Society of Jesus ,Pedro Arrupe SJ, the JRS is a humanitarian international organization with projects in 51 countries, which has increased its services (education, emergency assistance, health, human rights protection) and attends over half a million people.
"The accompaniment is the soul of this work. Called by their reality, our place is with the refugees in the camps, in conflict areas, in the detention centres... in society´s margins. This closeness shows us the best way to assist them, to defend, in their name, their rights, to promote justice and reconciliation" explains JRS International Director Peter Balleis SJ.
Throughout these 30 years, the JRS has kept faithful to its mission: going to where the need is greatest and leaving only when their challenges have been met. For all of this, CONGRATULATIONS!
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