For the past 45 years, the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) has been steadfast in its commitment to support refugees and forcibly displaced persons around the world. Today, JRS operates in 58 countries, providing essential aid and services to those most in need, while seeking to strengthen resilience, self-reliance and agency among the people we serve.

At the core of our mission is a deep commitment to accompany people on their journeys, remaining close to the communities and individuals forced to flee, particularly the most vulnerable and marginalised.

This commitment is grounded in humanitarian principles and Catholic social teaching, which emphasises the dignity of every person, regardless of nationality or status, as well as in our longstanding experience of accompaniment, which has inspired JRS since its founding and continues to guide its efforts.

To continue this vital work, JRS needs the support of individuals, organisations, governments and communities who stand in solidarity with those in need. Together, we can make sure that no one is abandoned in their time of greatest hardship.

On Friday, January 24, the Trump Administration ordered a freeze on all foreign assistance. This freeze also meant a total work stop, where funding to ensure even basic operational expenses, overhead, and staffing could not be paid. The only initial exemptions involved emergency food programmes and military aid to Israel and Egypt. On Wednesday, January 29, the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio expanded the exemptions to include humanitarian programmes that provide life-saving medicine, medical services, food, shelter, and subsistence assistance.

This unprecedented action has reverberated across the globe, as life-saving programmes that keep some of the world’s most vulnerable and at-risk communities alive have been thrown into deep uncertainty.

JRS currently supports life-saving work among refugee and displaced person populations in nine countries across the globe with funding from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau for Population, Refugees, and Migration (DOS-PRM). They are some of the world’s most vulnerable and marginalised people. JRS’ PRM-funded global projects for fiscal year 2025 total over $18 million dollars in assistance for critical, life-sustaining services in Chad, Colombia, Ethiopia, India, Iraq, South Africa, South Sudan, Thailand, and Uganda.

Through these programmes, JRS and its partners provide medicine, medical transportation, subsistence cash assistance, psychiatric care, food, nursing care and community healthcare worker support for the chronically and terminally ill, physical therapy for the severely disabled, subsistence (sole income source) jobs for teachers in refugee camps, access to education and to mental health and psycho-social support (MHPSS) to marginalised communities, and life-sustaining care for orphans and unaccompanied children.

JRS estimates that this required “work stop” could adversely impact over 100,000 refugees and displaced people – individuals who have already lost so much and live on the margins of society – and who will be unable to access life-saving services over the next three months.

While the news that Secretary Rubio has expanded exemptions for humanitarian assistance is welcome – JRS programmes remain in a precarious situation as we await news from DOS-PRM about which of our programmes and activities will be exempted while under review, and which will continue after the review period concludes.

We stand in unwavering solidarity with the people and communities forced to flee, listening to their needs and remaining committed to staying by their side. We will continue to provide all the support we can to those we serve. However, without the necessary support, countless lives will be at risk, and many will suffer and perish.