Each of the centers is staffed by three Salesian priests and a deacon and have been in operation since well before the start of the war providing educational classes, meeting space and social development and sporting activities for youth and their families. The centers also offer trauma counseling, emergency shelter, nutritious meals and medical referrals to those in need.

“Salesian missionaries are trying to help youth and their families focus on normal life amid situations that are very challenging,” says Father Pier Jabloyan, Assistant Pastor at the Salesian center in Aleppo. “In such a situation youth have even greater need for socialization, entertainment and fraternity. They need a quiet place where they can play and talk with their peers and supportive adults. We try to provide that safe space where youth feel safe so they can learn, process their feelings and relax with their friends.”

Despite the ongoing violence, Salesian centers continue to meet the needs of their communities through the distribution of food, economic aid and scholarships to help young people continue with their schooling. Salesian missionaries have noted the absence of youth in the area as many have fled to safety in other areas of Syria and in neighboring countries.

“The country is increasingly exhausted and impoverished by the war and the consequences on the living conditions of the population have been devastating,” says Father Munir El Rai, Provincial of the Middle East who visited his home city of Aleppo in July 2015. “People are getting tired and exhausted at the moral, spiritual and material level. As well as the tragedy of death and destruction, every family is now faced with the drama of emigration, with people fleeing the country in search of a better life outside Syria. I have seen the suffering of the people who remain and the loneliness they feel for those who are gone.”

Since the outbreak of civil war, 7.3 million Syrians have been internally displaced within the country and 4.7 million registered Syrian refugees are in the neighboring countries of Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq with a recent flood of refugees now seeking asylum in Europe, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Refugee camps in these bordering countries are overflowing with families in need of basic supplies, adequate shelter and safety as well as technical skills training so they can begin to earn a living in their new host countries. More than 6 million of those affected are children who have been put at risk of violence and are subject to a lack of essential supplies and destroyed infrastructure that has closed schools and hospitals.

In addition to Salesian centers within Syria, Salesian missionaries have been helping Syrian refugees in Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt since early 2012 assisting between 400 and 800 refugees each day, many of whom are women and children. At these refugee sites, missionaries provide emergency relief by meeting basic needs and providing shelter, safety and medical assistance. Missionaries also offer technical skills training to assist refugees in the task of finding stable employment in their new host countries which for many is particularly challenging due to labor laws and a lack of established social and professional networks.

Salesian missionaries seek to assist the most disadvantaged and vulnerable refugees, particularly those living outside of protected camps who take risks in order to support elderly parents, wives and children. Offering skills training, advocacy and counseling programs, Salesian centers provide safe spaces for vulnerable refugee families to find a sense of community and peace.

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Sources:

ANS – Syria – In Aleppo something terrible is happening, but many people either ignore or do not want to see it

ANS – Syria – “We try to do the normal things, in times that are not normal”

UNHCR – Syrian Refugee Response

The post SYRIA: Salesian Programs Continue Providing Shelter and Education for Youth Despite Ongoing Violence first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Sharing a 500-mile-long border with Syria, southeastern Turkey has more than 1.7 million Syrian refugees, as reported by the United Nations. Salesian missionaries are providing services at three sites within Syria while also providing for Syrian refugees in Turkey. While many Syrian refugees stay in towns on the Turkey-Syrian border, many find their way to big cities like Istanbul where Salesian missionaries operate a program that currently serves close to 400 Syrian refugees.

The Don Bosco Center opened its doors 20 years ago as a temporary response to a wave of refugees from Iraq. With conflict continuing in the region today, new refugees and asylum seekers arrive every day. Currently, there are 350 children enrolled in the center, mostly from Iraq and Syria, who are being taught English as well as other traditional school subjects such as mathematics, geography and music. Students have access to sports and dance programs intended to help them connect with their peers and find enjoyment and comfort in their new surroundings. In addition, the program provides counseling both for youth and their families to help them overcome the challenges and traumas they may have faced.

“Salesian missionary work in Istanbul serves a critical purpose providing refugees links to service providers and comprehensive assistance as they transition, for an unknown period of time, into local society,” says Neill Holland, program officer at the Salesian Missions Office for International Programs. “Without a doubt, the biggest Salesian success is the safe space created for youth who have experienced trauma in their home countries. At the Don Bosco School and community center, refugee youth take part in recreation activities with Turkish youth which allows them to move beyond their hardships while giving them a chance to forget their worries and be children once again.”

Basima Toma, one of the center’s teachers, provides English language lessons to approximately 40 students. Toma, her husband and their four children are adherents of the Chaldean Catholic religion and lived in Baghdad, Iraq, until a Christian-owned business near them was attacked and destroyed, leaving them concerned for their safety. In 2013, the family moved to Turkey where they have found a renewed sense of security.

“Now I do not fear for my children,” said Toma, in a recent Catholic News Service article about the Don Bosco Center. “I put my head on my pillow and am not afraid when they are not with me.”

Like Toma, most of the teachers at the center are refugees or asylum seekers. Father Andres Calleja Ruiz reports that students relate better to and feel more comfortable with teachers that have gone through some of the same experiences and understand the suffering they may have endured. The teachers also speak Arabic, the native language of most of the refugee students, which is helpful in the classroom.

“Here we do not ask anyone what religion they are or to what political movement they belong,” says Fr. Calleja.

In addition to educating refugees, the center provides a safe space where they can sing and play. Many young refugees had never been to school or attended only sporadically because of war in their countries. Salesian missionaries at the center work to provide youth a sense of regularity and opportunities to catch up on their missed school years and childhoods. For one student, Sarah Mohammed, the Don Bosco Center is the only place where she and her sister are able to gain an education and learn both English and Turkish. The sisters and their family were forced to flee from Aleppo, Syria more than a year ago after an explosion near the girls’ school.

An estimated 9 million Syrians have fled their homes since the outbreak of civil war in March 2011, taking refuge in neighboring countries or within Syria itself. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 3 million have fled to Syria’s immediate neighbors Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq. Another 6.5 million are internally displaced within Syria. Refugee camps in these bordering countries are overflowing with families in need of basic supplies, adequate shelter and safety as well as technical skills training so they can begin to earn a living in their new host countries.

Recently, close to 150,000 Syrians have declared asylum in the European Union, while member states have pledged to resettle a further 33,000 Syrians. The vast majority of these resettlement locations, 28,500 or 85 percent, have been pledged by Germany.

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Sources:

ANS – Turkey – Studying, singing and playing, after fleeing their homes due to war

CNS – Salesian center offers haven for Iraqi, Syrian children in Istanbul

UNHCR – 2015 UNHCR country operations profile – Turkey

The post TURKEY: Don Bosco Center Provides English Language Classes and Education to More Than 350 Refugee Children first appeared on MissionNewswire.

For the first time in four years, Salesian missionaries held five-day summer camps to give young Syrians the opportunity to leave Aleppo and take refuge in the mountains near the Salesian center in Kafroun. More than 180 junior high school students and 140 senior high school students, accompanied by several Salesian staff and youth leaders, enjoyed the retreat from the violence and war in their home communities. For many, it was the first time in years they were able to sleep soundly without hearing sounds of war on the streets outside their homes.

“Every time I visit Aleppo, I see a city increasingly destroyed, and until a few years ago this great city, one of the oldest in the world, had about 3 million inhabitants. Now it is considered one of the most dangerous places in the world,” says Father Munir El Rai, Provincial of the Middle East who visited his home city of Aleppo in July. “The number of young people connecting with Salesian centers is increasing. One of the reasons is our youth centers have been relatively safe so far compared to other parish youth centers.”

During his visit to Aleppo, Fr. El Rai was able to take part in some of the summer camp activities at the Salesian center in Kafroun. He was impressed with the organization and management of the center. Through the use of a shuttle service, the center is able to provide programs and social activities in a peaceful, family-like atmosphere to more than 700 young people from various parts of the city.

Father El Rai also visited other areas of Syria and found much devastation and destruction. The lack of running water has forced people to survive on reduced amounts of water, especially drinking water, with serious health consequences while a shortage of electricity makes the most basic daily activities difficult.

“The country is increasingly exhausted and impoverished by the war and the consequences on the living conditions of the population have been devastating,” says Fr. El Rai. “People are getting tired and exhausted at the moral, spiritual and material level. As well as the tragedy of death and destruction, every family is now faced with the drama of emigration, with people fleeing the country in search of a better life outside Syria. I have seen the suffering of the people who remain and the loneliness they feel for those who are gone.”

Despite the ongoing violence, Salesian centers continue to meet the needs of their communities through the distribution of food, economic aid and scholarships to help young people continue with their schooling. Salesian missionaries have noted the absence of youth in the area as many have fled to safety in other areas of Syria and in neighboring countries.

Since the March 2011 outbreak of civil war, 7.3 million Syrians have been internally displaced within the country and 4.1 million registered Syrian refugees are in the neighboring countries of Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq and a recent flood of refugees are now seeking asylum in Europe, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Refugee camps in these bordering countries are overflowing with families in need of basic supplies, adequate shelter and safety as well as technical skills training so they can begin to earn a living in their new host countries. More than 6 million of those affected are children who have been put at risk of violence and are subject to a lack of essential supplies and destroyed infrastructure that has closed schools and hospitals.

In addition to Salesian centers within Syria, Salesian missionaries have been helping Syrian refugees in Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt since early 2012 assisting between 400 and 800 refugees each day, many of whom are women and children. At these refugee sites, missionaries provide emergency relief by meeting basic needs and providing shelter, safety and medical assistance. Missionaries also offer technical skills training to assist refugees in the task of finding stable employment in their new host countries which for many is particularly challenging due to labor laws and a lack of established social and professional networks.

Salesian missionaries seek to assist the most disadvantaged and vulnerable refugees, particularly those living outside of protected camps who take risks in order to support elderly parents, wives and children. Offering skills training, advocacy and counseling programs, Salesian centers provide safe spaces for vulnerable refugee families to find a sense of community and peace.

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Sources:

ANS – Syria – “Ghèr ‘alam”: “Another World” for the Youth of Aleppo

UNHCR – Syrian Refugee Response

*Any goods, services or funds provided by Salesian Missions to programs located in this country were administered in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including sanctions administered by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control.

The post SYRIA: Salesian Missionaries in War-Torn Syria Provide Shelter, Youth Programs and Education first appeared on MissionNewswire.

“We are carrying on with our regular activities and every Friday, close to 300 boys and girls from elementary school through high school attend catechism classes,” says Father Munir El Rai, Provincial of the Middle East. “The number of young people connecting with Salesian centers in Syria is increasing. One of the reasons is our youth center has been relatively safe so far compared to other parish youth centers.”

“However, in February our area was hit by five mortars, three of which fell within fifty meters of the school,” adds Fr. El Rai. “Nine civilians were killed, including four young people, and more than thirty-five people were injured. All citizens of Aleppo are at risk and no area is completely safe or far from war.”

Despite the ongoing violence, Salesian centers continue to meet the needs of their communities through the distribution of food, economic aid and scholarships to help young people continue with their schooling. Salesian missionaries have noted the absence of youth in the area due to many fleeing to safety in other areas of Syria and in neighboring countries.

“Emigration continues to increase, and the absence of young people between 20 and 30 years is noticeable,” explains Fr. El Rai. “Young people leave the country to look for work, for safety and a life of dignity. It is a very sad, because a country cannot grow without the presence of its young people.”

Since the March 2011 outbreak of civil war, close to 9 million Syrians have fled their homes in search of safety, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). More than 6 million of those affected are children who have been put at risk of violence and are subject to a lack of essential supplies and destroyed infrastructure that has closed schools and hospitals.

Close to 6.5 million people are internally displaced within Syria. More than 2.5 million have fled to the neighboring countries of Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq and just under 100,000 have declared asylum in Europe. Refugee camps in these bordering countries are overflowing with families in need of basic supplies, adequate shelter and safety as well as technical skills training so they can begin to earn a living in their new host countries.

“With all these difficulties it might seem that we are losing hope, but not so,” adds Fr. El Rai. “The young people who are still here in Syria continue to live their lives with great strength, courage and will to live. They continue to go to college, to study and to come to the youth center, helping out in the various activities. Their presence gives us courage and strength to carry on.”

In addition to Salesian centers within Syria, Salesian missionaries have been helping Syrian refugees in Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt since early 2012 assisting between 400 and 800 refugees each day, many of whom are women and children. At these refugee sites, missionaries provide emergency relief by meeting basic needs and providing shelter, safety and medical assistance. Missionaries also offer technical skills training to assist refugees in the task of finding stable employment in their new host countries which for many is particularly challenging due to labor laws and a lack of established social and professional networks.

“Salesians are particularly focused on providing care and support services to urban refugees,” says Neill Holland, program officer at the Salesian Missions Office for International Programs. “Urban refugees, like those fleeing Syria and other areas, are particularly vulnerable to economic insecurity, subject to long-term unemployment and high costs for basic necessities like shelter and food. What’s more, urban refugees intent on joining host country commerce out of the need to support dependent family members, often despite host country labor laws, are significantly at risk of exploitation and compromising situations.”

Salesian missionaries seek to assist the most disadvantaged and vulnerable refugees, particularly those living outside of protected camps who take risks in order to support elderly parents, wives and children. Offering skills training, advocacy and counseling programs, Salesian centers provide safe spaces for vulnerable refugee families to find a sense of community and peace.

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Photo: (Getty Images © AhmadSabra) Beqaa, Lebanon – May 03, 2013: Syrian Refugee children in one of the tented camps in Beqaa Lebanon. One of the children showing signs of Leishmania.

Sources:

ANS –  Syria – “The young people gives us courage and strength”

UNHCR – Syria Regional Refugee Response

*Any goods, services or funds provided by Salesian Missions to programs located in this country were administered in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including sanctions administered by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control.

The post SYRIA: Salesian Missionaries Continue to Provide for Syrian Youth and Families in Need at Three Centers within Syria first appeared on MissionNewswire.

At the Don Bosco Center in Istanbul, Salesian Father Andres Calleja Ruiz leads special programs for refugee children and youth from Syria as well as for a growing number of families fleeing ISIS persecution in Iraq. Because most refugees do not speak the local language it is difficult for children to attend school and adults to find work.

At the Center, Salesian missionaries provide a school for more than 350 refugee children where they learn English language skills as well as other traditional school subjects such as mathematics, geography and music. Students have access to sports and dance programs intended to help them connect with their peers and find enjoyment and comfort in their new surroundings. In addition, the program provides counseling both for youth and their families to help them overcome the challenges and traumas they have faced.

“Salesian missionary work in Istanbul serves a critical purpose providing refugees links to service providers and comprehensive assistance as they transition, for an unknown period of time, into local society,” says Neill Holland, program officer at the Salesian Missions Office for International Programs. “Without a doubt, the biggest Salesian success is the safe space created for youth who have experienced trauma in their home countries. At the Don Bosco School and community center, refugee youth take part in recreation activities with Turkish youth which allows them to move beyond their hardships while giving them a chance to forget their worries and be children once again.”

Technical skills training is a critical component of Salesian work in Istanbul. Many refugees leave the country’s border towns and refugee camps and make their way to Istanbul hoping to find employment and a more stable life. If they fail to find work, refugees are often left in dire circumstances. The Don Bosco Center’s technical skills training program is a critical safety net for those in need.

The skills training program trains refugee families in local trades and technical skills and assists them in finding stable employment in their new host country. As a result of evacuation and host country labor laws as well as a lack of established social and professional networks, many refugees urgently rely on the training program to locate long-term employment. In addition to skills training, Salesian missionaries provide needy refugees with emergency relief in the form of shelter, safety and medical assistance.

“Refugees, like those fleeing Syria and other areas, are particularly vulnerable to economic insecurity, subject to long-term unemployment and high costs for basic necessities like shelter and food,” adds Holland. “Refugees seeking local employment out of the need to support dependent family members are significantly at risk of exploitation and compromising situations.”

More than 200,000 people have been killed and millions more have fled their homes in search of safety since the outbreak of civil war in Syria in March 2011, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The conflict has taken its toll on young Syrians with U.N records indicating 2,165 recorded deaths of children under nine years old and 6,638 deaths of children aged 10 to 18 years. With often poor reporting, the numbers are suspected to be much higher.

Close to 6.5 million people are internally displaced within Syria. More than 2.5 million have fled to the neighboring countries of Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq and just under 100,000 have declared asylum in Europe. Others have taken refuge in Northern Africa. Refugee camps in these bordering countries are overflowing with families in need of basic supplies, adequate shelter and safety as well as technical skills training so they can begin to earn a living in their new host countries.

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Sources:

PBS – Syrian Refugees in Turkey

UNHCR – Syria Refugees

Wall Street Journal – U.N. Says Syria Deaths Near 200,000

The post TURKEY: Salesian Missionaries Aid Close to 400 Syrian Refugees in Turkey first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Close to 6.5 million people are internally displaced within Syria. More than 2.5 million have fled to the neighboring countries of Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq and just under a 100,000 have declared asylum in Europe. Refugee camps in these bordering countries are overflowing with families in need of basic supplies, adequate shelter and safety as well as technical skills training so they can begin to earn a living in their new host countries.

Salesian missionaries were well established at three sites in Syria well before the civil war started and they continue to provide for those in need. Two of the sites are in Aleppo and Damascus, particularly high conflict areas, and the third is in Kafroun. Salesians still working within Syria assist with trauma counseling and emergency shelter as well as nutrition and medical referrals.

Salesians have been helping Syrian refugees in Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt since early 2012, where each day they assist between 400 and 800 refugees, many of whom are women and children. At these refugee sites, Salesians provide emergency relief by meeting basic needs and providing shelter, safety and medical assistance. Salesians also offer technical skills training to assist refugee families with finding stable employment in their new host countries. This is urgently needed as individuals find it challenging to locate long-term formal employment, or draw on established social and professional networks, as a result of evacuation and host country labor laws.

“Salesians are particularly focused on providing care and support services to urban refugees,” says Neill Holland, program officer at the Salesian Missions Office for International Programs. “Urban refugees, like those fleeing Syria and other areas, are particularly vulnerable to economic insecurity, subject to long-term unemployment and high costs for basic necessities like shelter and food. What’s more, urban refugees intent on joining host country commerce out of the need to support dependent family members, often despite host country labor laws, are significantly at risk of exploitation and compromising situations.”

Salesians seek to assist these most disadvantaged and vulnerable refugees, particularly those living outside of protected camps who take risks in order to support elderly parents, wives and their children. Salesian programs offer support though skills training, advocacy and counseling as well as by providing safe spaces where refugee families have a place to play and commune peacefully.

One of the biggest challenges Salesians face when providing assistance for Syrian refugees is managing the relationship between the refugees and the local community. Salesians work with community residents and refugees to provide support and empower the communities to care for their most vulnerable members.

“Although many refugee hosting situations are known to be fraught with discontent over competition for basic needs items such as housing, food, education and earnings, which increases in scarcity for both local residents and refugees during displacement, the Salesians are well positioned to counsel the host and refugee community alike,” says Holland.

“Salesians work to promote non-violent conflict resolution and mutual understanding through inter-community sports and learning exchanges,” adds Holland. “This central effort, to promote peace while improving quality of education and health, livelihood and life in general, is the reason that Salesian programming for refugees is so successful.”

Through this work, Salesians have had the opportunity to build capacity and strategic partnerships by collaborating with partners from the Egyptian government, Caritas, groups of private industry CEOs and others, all with the goal of improving quality of life, protection and livelihood opportunities for vulnerable refugees.

Due to their ongoing work and infrastructure supports, Salesians have been able to connect Syrian refugees in their programs with additional assistance provided by host governments and international organizations like UNHCR. The visibility and networking afforded by Salesians is critical to the design of a comprehensive response to the Syrian Refugee crisis by the global development community.

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PHOTO SHOWS SIMILAR PROGRAM IN EGYPT, A COUNTRY WHERE PROGRAMS WILL ALSO BE ASSISTING SYRIAN REFUGEES.

Sources:

UNHCR – Syrian Regional Refugee Response

*Any goods, services or funds provided by Salesian Missions to programs located in this country were administered in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including sanctions administered by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control.

The post SYRIA: Salesians Provide Emergency Relief, Shelter and Skills Training to Close to 800 Syrian Refugees Each Day first appeared on MissionNewswire.

“We came because two paramilitary factions and one guerrilla group were wreaking havoc in the area where we lived. They are killing a lot of the local people,” Padilla told UNHCR. Growing numbers of people have been arriving in northern Ecuador‘s Esmeraldas province this year and asking for asylum. Like Padilla, they cite increased violence across the border.

Significant numbers of people have been crossing into the province to seek shelter for years, with government figures putting the number at 1,200 to 1,500 people a month, said Oscar Sánchez Piñeiro, head of UNHCR ‘s field office in Esmeraldas.

But he added that the number had risen due to “the deteriorating conditions” in and around Tumaco, the main Pacific port in south-west Colombia‘s Nariño department. In one week earlier this year, UNHCR estimates that there were 600 arrivals.

Sánchez Piñeiro said that a further 1,000 people are believed to have arrived in Esmeraldas province during the same time, but had not been able to file asylum claims because it was difficult getting from border areas to the provincial capital, Esmeraldas, where the government registers new arrivals.

“The new arrivals say the situation in Colombia remains volatile,” the UNHCR official said. “Among the arriving population there are many women and children who had to flee because of threats, assassinations of relatives or the occupation of their land by irregular armed groups. Many live in precarious conditions, especially due to their proximity to the conflict zone and increasing violence in the border.”

UNHCR visitors met Padilla and his family at a shelter in San Lorenzo, where they were receiving assistance until they could find somewhere more permanent to live and look for a livelihood. They decided to leave Tumaco after one of the armed groups killed three people in their neighborhood, Padilla said, adding: “It was rumored that three more people were missing.”

But Padilla did not have enough money for transport to the border and he and his wife made the tough decision to leave their two oldest children – a 10-year-old girl and a boy aged 13 – with relatives in the hope that they could later reunite in Ecuador. His wife worries about the two children. “It hurt me a lot when I had to leave as I had never been far away from them, never.”

Many of the families arriving in this area stay with local communities on San Lorenzo’s stretch of coast, while others – like Padilla’s family – are provided with temporary accommodation. “We have several locations where we provide shelter for the new arrivals, especially for the vulnerable ones in San Lorenzo,” said Piñeiro, adding that needs surpassed UNHCR’s capacity.

UNHCR offers weekly briefings for the new arrivals in San Lorenzo, which is the first point of entry for many. The sessions include orientation on how to access the asylum process and also arranged information meetings through the provincial Refugee Directorate, which is the state entity in charge of providing registration and conducting the asylum process.

One priority for UNHCR is to work with the protection networks established in the border region to help trace the separated family members and to enhance protection activities along the northern border with Colombia.

Debbie Elizondo, UNHCR’s representative in Quito, noted that Ecuador is the largest refugee-hosting country in Latin America, with more than 55,000 recognized Colombian refugees. But she also expressed concern about the dangers asylum seekers face in the border areas inside Ecuador .

“Many people may think that perhaps there is no more conflict in Colombia , but the reality is that we continue to see thousands fleeing the increasingly volatile areas and fragmented fighting,” she said, adding that the border area was dangerous.

“Just last year, 15 refugees or asylum-seekers were assassinated in the province of Esmeraldas. There is also an increased presence of illegal armed groups along the border and they operate in the region and foster systemic human rights violations,” Elizondo added.

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By Babar Baloch in San Lorenzo, Ecuador (UNHCR) | PHOTO: B. Balach/UNHCR

See this news article in its original location.

See related article: “New Beginnings” Program Expands to Assist Colombian Refugees in Four Countries

The post UNHCR: Violence in Colombia Displacing More People into Ecuador first appeared on MissionNewswire.

The three-year program will focus on Colombian refugees living Ecuador, Venezuela, Costa Rica and Panama due to ongoing internal conflict in Colombia, which has resulted in the displacement of more than four million Colombians in the last two decades.

According to 2011 data from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) more than 90% of the 454,088 known Colombian refugees and asylum seekers now live in the neighboring countries of Ecuador (167,189), Venezuela (215,685), Panama (17,714), and Costa Rica (19,703).

“Many of the Colombian refugees have no marketable skills. They can’t find jobs and the lack of training makes it difficult to start their own business or join with others to form cooperatives. Without jobs, it is hard to find stability for their families and build new lives. For example, younger children may not attend school and the cycle of poverty continues,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco.

Through the “New Beginnings” program, Colombian refugees will receive training and technical skills that will enable them to find gainful employment. In addition, the recipients will receive human development workshops developed through a grant with the WK Kellogg Foundation, as well as job placement services.

According to Fr. Hyde, job placement specialists in each target country will consult with local employers and existing ministry of labor contacts to ensure the job training programs meet the needs of the marketplace.

In addition to the estimated 5,100 students who will receive job training, Salesian Missions expects the program to indirectly benefit 26,520 family members. The program will reach refugees in 18 different regions throughout Ecuador, Venezuela, Panama, and Costa Rica.

“Many of these refugees live in rural villages where access to technical training is often difficult to attain,” explains Edson Timana, a program officer with the Salesian Missions Office for International Programs. Timana is currently traveling to all program sites throughout the four countries to prepare them to implement the programs prior to the arrival of the refugees.

The program will also ensure that the Colombian refugees are formalizing their status as registered refugees. It is estimated that only around 22% of Colombian refugees are registered and accounted for.

“If a refugee is not counted – or is considered ‘vanished’ – it makes it that much more difficult to provide long-term solutions for them,” says Fr. Hyde. “For example, in the four countries we’ve targeted, only registered refugees can legally work, making the registration component critically important. Our goal is to have one hundred percent of students enrolled in the program formalizing their status as registered refugees and then they can begin to build a new life in their new country.”

Fr. Hyde adds that cultural understanding is another aspect of ensuring refugees long-term achievement in their new country.

“We’ve seen that Colombian refugees face high levels of discrimination because of harmful stereotypes. Discrimination affects the refugees’ ability to find jobs, housing and even basic services. The stereotypes also affect the refugees’ sense of self. That’s why we’re including spaces for positive exchanges, as well as conflict mitigation, between Colombian refugees and members of the local host community in the program,” says Fr. Hyde. This includes integrating refugee students with host country students in courses and workshops, vocational training fairs and sports and cultural activities to promote social interaction.

The “New Beginnings” program is designed to meet the goals of the UNHCR/International Organization for Migration/Ministers Foreign Affairs; Colombia, Ecuador Assistance Plan for Colombian Refugees (December 2010), which seeks to support priorities and pilot programs which will advance the sustainable reintegration of Colombians who decide to return home while improving the living conditions of those Colombians who continue to stay abroad by, “promoting their socio-economic inclusion in society with proper access to employment, basic health services, education and housing.”

The most recent Salesian Missions’ “New Beginnings” commenced at the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. The first program was launched in 2005 in Colombia, with a focus on providing vocational training, job placement, and healthcare assistance to persons displaced by the country’s ongoing civil conflict. Last year an additional New Beginnings project commenced in Tamil Nadu, India, providing vocational skills, human development, and job placement assistance to Sri Lankan refugees. In both India and Colombia, students received and continue to receive training in skill areas ranging from video production to carpentry to wind turbine repair and maintenance.

The Salesians are widely considered the world’s largest provider of technical and vocational training. Salesians around the world operate an extensive network of schools: more than 1,316 elementary; 1,400 intermediary and secondary; 32 colleges and universities; 300 industrial skills trade/vocational; 90 agricultural; 860 nurseries; 220 clinics and hospitals; and 1,670 social assistance centers and programs for orphans and street children.

The post CENTRAL & SOUTH AMERICA: “New Beginnings” Program Expands to Assist Colombian Refugees in Four Countries first appeared on MissionNewswire.