Dili, 22 July 2013 — Jesuit Refugee Service plans to withdraw from Timor-Leste in 2013 having provided social and livelihoods support to displaced people for the past seven years.  A new development organization run by the Jesuit Church – Jesuit Social Services – will open up in its place. The JRS mandate is geared towards assisting communities in need of aid and accompaniment while displaced from their lands.

Now, however, the majority of the 150,000 persons previously displaced in Timor-Leste have returned to their homes. What is called for at this time are development initiatives, continued livelihoods support, and peace and reconciliation efforts within the returned communities, as they attempt to recover from the violence in their recent history.

Read the article by Jesuit Asia Pacific Conference here.