The Jesuit network gets involved for World Refugee Day

World Refugee Day is celebrated every year on 20 June. This international day was designated by the United Nations to honour refugees around the world, shed light on their plight and work together to find long-term solutions to displacement.

In 2021, the motto that accompanies us on this day of claiming and caring is Together we care, learn and shine, which reminds us of the need for greater inclusion of refugees in all systems (health, schools, sport…) and is inspired by Pope Francis’ call: “No one is saved alone; we can only be saved together.”

Throughout the previous week, Jesuit networks and institutions have been promoting actions for greater visibility. On 17 June, the II International Conference of Donors in Solidarity with Venezuelan Refugees and Migrants was held in Canada, in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). In this context, different Jesuit organisations and the Red Clamor in solidarity with Venezuelan refugees and forced migrants are calling for a stronger commitment from the international community at the upcoming International Donors’ Conference in Canada. Here you can read their statement.

In Spain, the organisations of the Social Sector of the Society of Jesus (Red Mimbre, Servicio Jesuita a Migrantes, Alboan and Entreculturas) launched the initiative Caminos de Hospitalidad (Paths of Hospitality). Under the slogan #SumoMiCamino, citizens are invited to put themselves in the shoes of refugees and displaced persons, and call for hospitality and defence of Human Rights. This 20-day campaign, which asks us to increase mobilisation and dissemination, calls for a comprehensive response that defends the right to safe migration in all its phases, and that builds new discourses, values and ways of coexistence that allow us to move towards the construction of a human family and a new society.

The Social Centers Network in Latin America (RCS/CPAL) organised the Analysis of the Reality of Latin America and the Caribbean to address the causes and causes of migration flows in the American continent, aggravated by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Jesuit Network with Migrants Central America and North America (RJM CANA) presented the campaign Steps that weave stories to make visible, with testimonies, the service offered by the Network to people forced to migrate and the impact generated by the help provided.

In Ecuador, the Jesuit Refugee Service presented throughout the month of June stories of migrants and refugees who, through their testimony, inspire a joint migration towards a better society and towards hope.

The Jesuit Refugee Service in Colombia shares with the global community Tools for Reconciliation, as a result of the work experience of JRS Colombia with other places where JRS operates, based on the reflection arising from the accompaniment of displaced persons and those seeking refuge. These tools seek, from an Ignatian perspective, to heal the wounds of the conflict and rebuild links at the personal, community, political and ecological levels.

Jesuit Refugee Service USA convenes an event with Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky in a discussion on refugee mental wellbeing, athletics and celebrating refugee talent in an initiative entitled Faster, Stronger, Higher.

There are other proposals in the Jesuit network: JRS Brazil presents a special programme during the month of June with special activities to collaborate and be aware of the reality of refugees. JRS Europe adopts the slogan Humanity is Hospitality and encourages citizen participation with concrete actions to create a welcoming and inclusive environment so that everyone can feel “at home.” Red Jesuita con Migrantes presents the UNHCR Jam Festival 2021, to create a virtual space where refugees and displaced people and their host communities can interact, share and heal together. This Network, which reminds us of the 20th anniversary of the celebration of World Refugee Day, emphasizes the continuous effort that needs to be made every day for displaced people: with its slogan 20_June AND ALWAYS With Refugees, they draw humanity’s attention to the violation of the rights and dignity of people forced to migrate.

From this month begins the journey towards the 107th World Day of Migrants and Refugees (WDMR), which will be celebrated on 26 September 2021 under the motto Towards an ever greater “us”, which echoes in its call so that “in the end there will no longer be “the others”, but only one “us”” (Fratelli tutti, 35).

Be informed, join us, be part of this commitment. If you know more initiatives of the Jesuit network, please do not hesitate to share them with us.