Mateus Da Costa is a 64-year-old man who lives in the Timorese village of De-Posito Pinal. Mateus and his family are currently living in a temporary home provided by the government after his own home was destroyed in 1999 as Indonesia withdraw from Timor Leste.

Helena is a 50-year-old widow living in the Timorese village of Becora. Helena’s day starts early. By 6am she is washing clothes for a local laundrette. The small amount of money she receives is just enough to feed her four children and keep three of them in school. There simply isn’t enough money to pay the fees for her 8-year-old son.

Refugees are not people experiencing economic difficulties but people who face possible death if they remain in their home countries, participants at a World Refugee Day program in Bangkok learnt.

“As Tamils, my family was threatened. We were afraid to be killed by the military and therefore decided to escape,” said Thulika, 18, a Sri Lankan.

“In Thailand, even though we are not threatened, we are still not free … We can’t work legally. My brother and myself can’t go to school,” said Thulika, who came to Thailand four years ago to escape the civil war.

Thulika was one of two refugees who spoke about their plight during a June 20 Mass organized by the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) to mark World Refugee Day and the service’s 30th anniversary.

This year is the sixth anniversary of the United Nations designated World Refugee Day.  World Refugee Day is an opportunity for the world to honor the courage, resilience and strength of refugees. As global attention is focused on the plight of refugees and the causes of their exile, we at JRS are organizing a day of festivity and celebration. World Refugee Day for JRS is an important occasion in which we collectively acknowledge the determination, will to survive, and the many contributions refugee’s make to their host countries.
Refugee day is also an occasion to stand in solidarity with refugees around the globe and to speak out against the conflicts, persecution, and human rights abuse that force people from their homes.

Jesuit Refugee Service and Urban Refugees from Jesuit Refugee Service/USA on Vimeo.

Despite impending ban, funds still invest US$43 billion in companies making the weapons

(Geneva, 14 April 2010) - Leading financial institutions worldwide continue to invest more than US$43 billion in producers of cluster munitions despite a comprehensive treaty banning the weapons set to become binding international law, according to new research presented by Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) members in Geneva today.

1. INTERNATIONAL NEWS

More than 5,000 people were killed or injured by landmines every year, according to the United Nations. Myanmar is one of the few countries in the world where the devastating devices are still in extensive use by the military and a myriad of rebel groups. However, it is Myanmar's ordinary citizens that are most affected. Across the border in Thailand, some victims are given a new lease of life as workers produce prosthetic limbs using basic tools and materials.

De-mining efforts have been intensified in Thailand, but many say the country isn't doing enough to help victims

Surat Khongcharoen had no idea when he was planting M6-72 anti-tank mines around Tha Phraya district in Sa Kaeo (then Prachin Buri) province in 1978-79 that he would be coming back one day to de-mine the area. Several truckloads of mines were spread around border villages in Sa Kaeo to prevent the advance of the Khmer Rouge into eastern Thailand.