The Founder of JRS

Fr. Pedro Arrupe was the superior general of the society of Jesus from 1965 to 1983. It was often remarked during his life, that the 27th superior general of the Jesuits physically resemble Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of Jesuits. Not only did they look alike, but Don Pedro, as he was affectionately called, is credited with ‘refounding’ the Jesuits order following the profound social values in the sixties. In a prophetic and practical gesture, called his last testament to the society, Fr. Arrupe founded the Jesuits refugee service in 1980.

Shocked by the plight of the Vietnamese boat people, Pedro Arrupe SJ announces the foundation of JRS.

“…last year, struck and shocked by the plight of thousands of boat people and refugees, I felt it my duty…,” Fr Arrupe wrote to the Society on 14 November 1980. For Arrupe the refugees were “signs of the times”, a feature of his historic time that compelled a compassionate response.

1983 - Civil war in Sri Lanka Projects with internally displaced persons in Sri Lanka.

Although almost paralyzed, it was clear that Fr Arrupe wanted to ask me a question but could not find the words, so Br Bandera, the infirmarian, brought him paper and pencil. With his left hand, Fr Arrupe shakily drew a map of India, then the droplet shape of the island next to it. By pointing to the island, clearly, he was asking me, ‘What is JRS doing to help the people of Sri Lanka?
Fr Mark Raper

Projects for Bhutanese refugees in Nepal.

1992- Bhutanese exodus to Nepal.

The education program of the Bhutanese refugees was born at the very beginning of their exile, in 1991, on the Mai bank, when teachers and members of the Student Union of Bhutan gathered children under the trees and started to teach.

2005- JCSA Mission outreach in Afghanistan

After the fall of the Taliban regime, the earnest desire of the Major Superiors of the South Asian Assistancy to respond to this humanitarian crisis led to the start of the Jesuit Mission Outreach (JMO) in Afghanistan officially launched in 2005, through ‘JRS Afghanistan’, to reach out to the people of Afghanistan with a humanitarian perspective for a better future.

2012

Chin refugee project started

The JRS South Asia made its entry in 2011 with the chins in Delhi in view of understanding the needs and to evolve appropriate strategies to accompany the chins. JRS undertook a study in collaboration with Indian Social Institute. The chin Refugees, live a life of economic insecurity and non-recognition

2017

Rohingya emergency response

In the fall of 2017, following its mission to serve the most vulnerable of displaced persons, JRS and its partner Caritas visited Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, where an estimated 900,000 Rohingya now live as refugees after fleeing escalating violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State.