Argentina – JM: Situation report on displaced populations in Argentina
The Jesuit Migrant Service (SJM) in Argentina, presented a report on the situation of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in the period 2020-2021. This report aims to show the advocacy dimension that SJM works in the country, to make visible the recognized impacts of the pandemic and the factors that have made Argentina -and also Uruguay- an attractive destination for these populations.
It also raises organizational challenges that represent the work and defines a series of recommendations for the work of the SJM in the future. Rafael Velasco S.J. to the report in question and the access to the presentation -via YouTube-, and to the complete report.
By way of presentation
P. Rafael Velasco S.J.
(Provincial Superior in Argentina and Uruguay)
"I was a migrant and you welcomed
me" (Mt. 25:35).
Crises test the consistency of certain statements. We know this on a personal level and we see it on an institutional level. A crisis makes clear the real options, the values that really sustain us, not the proclaimed ones, but those that underlie what we do, those that set us in motion in certain directions.
The crisis provoked by the COVID 19 pandemic has brought to light - among other things - that the politically correct statements of our society have shown their inconsistency in practice. The marginalized have become even more marginalized, the impoverished have increased, and among them, migrants and refugees have been among the most affected groups: they are, for example, the first to be laid off from the world of work and thrown out of their homes. With them, public policies have shown their inadequacy. Structural injustice reproduces itself if we do not do something to prevent it. This report by the Jesuit Migrant Service (SJM) is an account of this.
This report is a survey of the situation and a first update of some lessons learned in critical times. It aims to make visible and raise awareness about the reality of migrants and people in search of refuge, and seeks to be a contribution to advocacy on their behalf.
This report also shows, although without directly proposing it, that SJM's statements are consistent with its options and actions. In the midst of an unprecedented crisis, the Jesuit Migrant Service has made great efforts to provide shelter, food, lodging, documentation and orientation. The report reflects the attempts to respond to a painful reality by showing its face and not hiding behind the impersonal anonymity in which sometimes organizations with noble purposes are shipwrecked. This is perhaps one of the most important lessons learned.
This report also shows that there have been and there are consistent organizations that in the midst of the storm try to rescue those who are thrown overboard. We work with them and we want to continue working with them, each one contributing their own contribution, from their own perspective.
Camús says in the Plague that "there are more things in men worthy of admiration than of contempt." In times of plague, the luminous and hopeful side of so many people and institutions is also revealed. Hope is a virtue that needs to be encouraged by choices and actions, it is an essential virtue, but it needs to be cultivated and supported by cooperating and persevering in the midst of the storm. Among all of us. From the SJM of the Society of Jesus, we offer our contribution that springs from our faith in Jesus Christ, Hope of Humanity.
Source: JESUITAS PROVINCIA ARGENTINA-URUGUAYA
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