Campaign 		Asia Pacific: World Refugee Day 2013

Asia Pacific, 16 June 2013— On World Refugee Day in 2013, JRS Asia Pacific calls for renewed hospitality by host governments towards refugees and asylum seekers in order to respect refugee rights to sanctuary, sustenance, and education.


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Campaign 		A regional approach to asylum: working towards what is ethically desirable and politically possible

Sydney, 14 June 2013 — The tragic discovery of 13 bodies 125 km
from the coast of Christmas Island last week, with more than 50 people still
unaccounted for, is a harsh reminder that government policies aiming to deter
asylum seekers from taking dangerous boat journeys to Australia is failing.


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Newsroom 		Thailand: JRS Asia Pacific meets with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra
Bangkok, 14 June 2013 – Jesuit Refugee Service Asia Pacific met with the Prime Minister of Thailand, Yingluck Shinawatra, on 12 June 2013 to encourage Thailand to finish clearing all known mines by 2018, the deadline set under the Article 5 obligation of the Mine Ban Treaty.
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Indonesia: Hospitality as a remedy
Bogor, 13 June 2013 — Conflict and armed violence in many parts of the world has caused millions of deaths and situations of displacement throughout the decades, forcing children and civilians to bear incomprehensible suffering. Indonesia's 4,239 refugees and asylum seekers are no exception.
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Newsroom 		Australia: removing a country from the migration zone
Sydney, 28 May 2013 — In an unprecedented effort to deter the arrival of asylum seekers who are in need of sanctuary, the federal Labor party has performed a dramatic U-turn and excised the entire Australian mainland from the migration zone.

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Newsroom 		Thailand: Homeward bound after 2,911 days in detention
Bangkok, 8 May 2013 — Nearly eight years ago, Mariya, a previously undocumented thirty-three year old Indonesian woman, was arrested and detained in southern Thailand after being found without a valid visa or passport.
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Newsroom 		Australia: JRS calls on Australian Government to reinstate work rights and provide vulnerable families with adequate support
The Australian government’s decision to release families on bridging visas is a positive step, but the omission of work rights from the policy will put asylum seekers at high risk of destitution, says JRS Australia.
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Newsroom 		Indonesia: Students rally to support landmine survivors
Bogor, 25 April 2013— Forty students between the ages of 18 and 20 years old from University Gadjah Mada (UGM) based in Yogyakarta lent their legs as a show of solidarity with landmine survivors for International Mine Awareness Day and Assistance in Mine Action earlier this month.
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Newsroom 		Asylum seekers under 15 deserve schooling
Sydney, 22 April 2013 — Early this month, on 5 April, the Australian government announced that 150 asylum seekers between the ages of 15 -17 held in Pontville Detention Centre, 30 km north of Tasmania's capital Hobart, would be allowed to attend public schools.
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On Assignment 		Regional Director's Letter - Songkran 2013: With water we bless others
Bangkok, 12 April 2013 — From January to May in Asia Pacific, we celebrate three New Year festivals. On 1 January, is the internationally recognised Roman calendar New Year celebration, marked by midnight fireworks. Then the Lunar Chinese and Vietnamese New Year (which this year fell on 11 February, 2013) lights up the night sky with red lanterns and the famous dragon dances.
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Newsroom 		Thailand: Landmine survivors photo exhibit unveiled
Bangkok, 4 April 2013 — In celebration of International Landmine Awareness Day in 2013, a photo exhibition spotlighting landmine survivors was unveiled today to the Thai public in downtown Bangkok's Siam Paragon shopping mall.
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Voices 		Thailand: Leaving the refugee camp for a Czech university
Brno, 4 April 2013— My name is Ni Ni Win. I fled from Bago, Burma, in 1999 when I was 26. My family feared for our safety because my uncle, a politician, was imprisoned. We sought asylum at the Thai-Burma border in Mae La refugee camp. I lived there for three years, before finding Erasmus Mundus, a scholarship programme, at Mazaryck University in the Czech Republic.

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On Assignment 		Regional Director's Letter- Easter 2013: In the Silence, Renewed Commitment
Bangkok, 28 March 2013 — As Holy Week for 2013 began this year on Sunday 24 March, here in Bangkok we heard about the fire in Ban Mae Surin, a refugee camp home to 3,000 Karenni and Karen refugees in Mae Hong Son province.
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Newsroom 		Thailand: post-fire relief efforts underway in Mae Surin refugee camp
Bangkok, 26 March 2013 – A fire that swept through Mae Surin refugee camp in northern Thailand on Friday has been met with swift relief by NGOs and community-based organisations. According to JRS staff, 37 Burmese refugees and asylum seekers lost their lives and several thousands have been made homeless.
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Campaign 		Thailand: rising up against sexual violence
Bangkok, 8 March 2013 – Throughout the past decade, international policy makers have placed violence against women during conflict higher on policy agenda, and much has been achieved in parts of the world , but little progress has been made in countries like Burma, where rape is used as a "weapon against those who only want to live in peace." 
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Newsroom 		Thailand: Migrant workers face continued hardship
Bangkok, 7 March 2013 — Last month Thailand's estimated two million irregular migrant workers were granted a four-month extension, until April 2013, to have their nationalities verified by their governments in order to register for Thai visas and work permits.
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Newsroom 		Australia: Opposition asylum seeker proposals ignore the facts
Sydney, 1 March 2013 — Earlier this week a 21-year-old Sri Lankan asylum seeker was accused of sexually assaulting a student at Macquarie University in Sydney. Scott Morrison, the spokesman for the opposition Coalition (of political parties) in Australia, is using the event to criticise the current Labour government for allowing asylum seekers into the community instead of keeping them in detention.
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Newsroom 		Cambodia: A boat without anchors
Phnom Penh, 20 February 2013 — Ethnic Vietnamese minority communities living in Cambodia appear to be stateless, says a report released by JRS Cambodia earlier this year.
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Newsroom 		Cambodia: Landmine victims pay respect to late king
Phnom Penh, 22 January 2013 — Landmine survivors and campaigners paid their respects to the late King Sihanouk at the Royal Palace on Tuesday, the 22nd of January, at 7.00 AM.
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