Old news (unpublished)
FALL 2016
Two new modules have been added to the Center's ESOL/KYR Toolkit. More information about "Protecting Families in Cases of Separation" and "Understanding the US School System" available here. »
Center Director David Hollenbach, S.J. gave an in-depth interview for a piece on the PBS program Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly entitled "Ethical Obligations to Displaced People."
The PBS video and transcript are available here.
Center Director David Hollenbach, S.J. commented on wealthy nations' obligations towards refugees as part of a discussion on the fate of the hundreds of thousands of refugees set to be repatriated with the Kenyan government's intended closure of the huge Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps this coming November, in an article in America magazine.
Hollenbach's comments in the America article can be accessed here.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has released its annual report on forced migrants. There were a record 63.5 million forcibly displaced people as of the end of 2015, a 10% increase over last year.
Access a summary of the UNHCR report findings, and a link to the report itself, here.
Center signs on to letter to President Obama urging the administration to lift restrictions to healthcare access for people in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The full press release for more information about the letter to President Obama is available here.
Center researchers Prof. Brinton Lykes, PhD student Kevin Ferreira and former PDHRP Supervising Attorney Jessica Chicco helped co-author a policy statement on family detention for the Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA).
Access a two page summary of the SCRA policy statement here. Or access the full SCRA policy statement here.
The Migration and Human Rights Project's 2015-2016 annual report is now available online in English and Spanish.
Center bids farewell to longtime Director David Hollenbach, S.J. and announces naming of Associate Directors Daniel Kanstroom and Brinton Lykes as new Co-Directors of the Center.
Access the statement on the Center's Directors here.
Center Co-Director Daniel Kanstroom penned a review of the new book "John Lennon vs. the USA," by Leon Wildes, in the Washington Post.
Kanstroom's review of the book available here.
The Jesuit Universities Humanitarian Action Network (JUHAN) has issued a call for proposals for its biannual student leadership conference to be held from June 27-29, 2017 at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester. The theme of next summer's conference is “Principles in Crisis,” and the topic of focus will be "Refugees and Responsibility."
Access the call for proposals for the JUHAN conference here.
The International Journal of Transitional Justice, for which Center Co-Director M. Brinton Lykes is a Co-Editor-in-Chief, has also issued a call for papers for for the theme, "Transitional Justice from the Margins: Intersections of Identities, Power and Human Rights." The deadline for submission is July 1, 2017.
Access the IJTJ website for details on the Call for Papers here.
The CHRIJ Summer Newsletter is now available. Catch up on the Spring 2016 happenings and learn about a few upcoming events.
Access the 2016 Summer Newsletter »
Center co-director Daniel Kanstroom is published in the New York Times arguing for deportation reform in the US immigration system as part of its Room for Debate series.
Access the Kanstroom editorial in the NYT here.
Center co-director Daniel Kanstroom spoke to the radio program The World on the more immediate foreseen effects on immigration and deportation policy under the new Trump administration.
SPRING 2016
Center Director David Hollenbach SJ will deliver a lecture entitled "Humanity in Crisis: Ethical Responsibilities to People Displaced by War" on Tuesday, April 26 at the Library of Congress’ John W. Kluge Center in Washington, DC. Hollenbach held the Maguire Chair in Ethics and American History this past fall at the Library.
Access the press release for Hollenbach's lecture here.
Center Associate Director Daniel Kanstroom spoke at a conference April 1 at Columbia U., "The EU Refugee Crisis and the Future of Europe." Kanstroom presented on "Is Expulsion ‘Different?’: Reflections on Refugees, Rights, and Return in Europe" and the US" as one of the two panels.
Access the video from the Columbia conference here.
The Center's Human Rights & Migration Project in Guatemala has published two reports titled, Documenting the lives of 21st Century Mayan families “on the move”. English and Spanish versions of the reports are available here »
Center Associate Director M. Brinton Lykes and BC Assistant Professor of the Practice of Psychology Nelson Portillo published a new article in the Spring 2016 edition of the journal ReVista, "A Search for Justice in El Salvador: One Legacy of Ignacio Martín-Baró."
Luisa Hernández Simaj of the Center's Human Rights of Migrants project in Zacualpa, Quiché, Guatemala is featured in a story on the project on PRI's The World radio program. Hear the program or access the transcript here.
Center Director David Hollenbach, S.J. was a member of a task force that wrote a recent Jesuit document dealing with global economic justice, inclusion, and sustainability. It explores how economics can better respond to the needs of the poor and the environment.
The Jesuit document is being distribued globally and is available here.
Center Director David Hollenbach, S.J. recently wrote an article feature in Boston College Magazine titled, "Hospitality: What is asked of Catholics?"
The BCM article is available here »
The Center's Human Rights of Migrants Project in Guatemala has produced two new manuals, in Spanish, on accompanying migrants and their families and on working with youth in educational settings, now available in the Resources section of our website.
Access the Guatemala team's manuals here »
Center Associate Director Daniel Kanstroom and Jessica Chicco's article "The Forgotten Deportees" was published in French in the journal Revue Plein Droit. The article in Plein Droit is available here.
A US judge has approved an extradition request that will allow former Salvadoran colonel Inocente Montano to be extradited to Spain to face charges of "terrorist murder" for his role in ordering the killings on the campus of the University of Central America in El Salvador in 1989. The murders took the lives of six Jesuits and their two companions who were working for peace and justice in the country.
Access more on the Montano extradition here.
The Center has released its Winter 2015-16 newsletter! Read up on the past semester's research, events and happenings.
Access the Winter 2015-16 newsletter here.
FALL 2015
The Center's Migration and Human Rights Project has launched a new report, "Migrant Families and Language: '...The person who speaks two languages has double the value'" in English and Spanish, with an accompanying infographic.
The new MHRP reports and infographic are available here.
Center Director David Hollenbach, S.J. delivered a lecture on the rights of refugees and responsibilities towards them upon receiving the Civitas Dei award at Villanova University on Nov. 18, 2015. An article adapted from the presentation is currently featured as the cover story in America magazine.
Hollenbach's America article may be accessed here.
Center Associate Director Brinton Lykes has been named Co-Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Transitional Justice, with Boston College now becoming the institutional home for the journal.
For more on Lykes' appointment, access the press release here.
Center Associate Director Brinton Lykes spoke at a conference at the University of Alberto Hurtado in Chile, "Interventions in Catastrophes: Technical Aspects and Ethical Reflections" (in Spanish)
Center Director David Hollenbach, S.J. was honored with the Civitas Dei award at Villanova University on Wednesday in recognition of exemplary contributions to the Catholic intellectual tradition. Access the press release announcing Fr. Hollenbach's honor.
The Center is proud to have supported BC Fine Arts Prof. Khalid Kodi's project this past year with refugees in South Sudan and Uganda. His report on the project, "Peace-making through Art Workshops, Talks, Murals, and Shows in South Sudan and Uganda" is available here.
Center Associate Director Daniel Kanstroom recently co-authored an article with former PDHRP supervising attorney Jessica Chicco, titled "The Forgotten Deported: A Declaration on the Rights of Expelled and Deported Persons" featured in the NYU Journal of International Law and Politics.
Access Kanstroom and Chicco's article here »
The work of Center Director David Hollenbach SJ highlighting the refugee stories present in the world's three great monotheistic religions is cited in a Boston Globe article surveying important books on refugees.
Access the Globe article citing Hollenbach here.
Center Director David Hollenbach SJ presented at the conference "Religious Liberty at Fifty Years from Vatican II", sponsored by the Institute for Catholicism and Citizenship at University of St. Thomas, Minnesota, on Nov. 5
Center Affiliated Faculty member Kalina Brabeck of Rhode Island College releases study detailing challenges facing mixed-status families in Rhode Island.
The story on Brabeck's study in the Providence Journal is available here.
The LA Times recently published an op-ed piece, written by Roy Eidelson and Jean Maria Arrigo, criticizing the American Psychological Association's complicit involvement in the US government's use of torture.
Center Director David Hollenbach, S.J. delivered the Advent Sacred Lecture at Georgetown U. on Dec. 8, 2015. The lecture helped launch the Jesuit Refugee Service's "Mercy in Motion" project, which aims to bring education to 100,000 additional refugee children.
Center Research Professor Maryanne Loughry RSM, and Center Director David Hollenbach SJ, commented on the refugee, or "conflict crisis" currently facing the Middle East, Europe and elsewhere, in the BC Chronicle.
Access the article in the BC Chronicle here.
The Migration and Human Rights Project's 2014-2015 annual report is now available online in English and Spanish.
Filmmaker Luis Argueta, who presented his latest documentary, Abrazos, at a Center-sponsored event in January, has received the prestigious La Orden del Quetzal award for his work with migrants. Access the story and Argueta's remarks upon receiving the award here (in Spanish).
The American Psychological Association (APA) has voted to bar involvement by psychologists in national security interrogations conducted by the United States government. Access the NY Times article on the APA ban, and the involvements leading up to it, here.
Access the text of the resolution passed by the APA here.
Center Director David Hollenbach SJ commented on exorbitant CEO compensation, citing the ethical teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas in an article in the National Catholic Reporter.
Access the article with Hollenbach's comments in NCR here.»
Center Director David Hollenbach SJ is quoted in Foreign Policy about Pope Francis' planned address to the US Congress in the fall as it concerns the pope's views on US immigration policy.
Access the article with Hollenbach's comments in Foreign Policy here.»
Center Director David Hollenbach SJ has been named the Cary and Ann Maguire Chair in Ethics and American History at the Library of Congress’ John W. Kluge Center for the fall of 2015.
Access more about Hollenbach's appointment here.»
Center Associate Director Brinton Lykes was one of 30 women peace activists who crossed the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea in May in support of peace and human rights in the region.
Access coverage about the historic DMZ crossing on the Brookings Institute's website here.» The activist group's website is available here.»
Fr. Michael Zammit SJ, Middle East regional director of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) spoke at a Center-sponsored event in April. See this interview in National Catholic Reporter about the situation in Syria and what JRS is doing to accomapny, serve, and advocate for those caught in the midst of war.
The National Catholic Reporter article on JRS in Syria is available here.»
Access video from the April JRS event here.».
BC Law is one of 13 US-based Jesuit law schools participating in a partnership with JRS/USA to help fill the legal representation gap among unaccompanied children migrants in the US and to make policy recommendations to make the legal process more just for these asylum seekers.
Access an article on JRS/Jesuit law schools partnership and recommendations here.»
PDHRP supervising attorney Jessica Chicco is quoted in a new report by Human Rights Watch highlighting the extent to which families are being torn apart in the US by the deportation system's treatment of minor drug offenses.
Access the Human Rights Watch press release here, which includes a link to the full report.
World Refugee Day is June 20. Center Research Professor Maryanne Loughry RSM recently gave a talk on the grim realities of the Syrian refugee crisis.
Access Prof. Loughry's presentation on the Syrian refugee crisis here.»