US foreign aid funding freeze puts thousands of refugee lives at risk
On 24 January, the US government ordered an immediate freeze on nearly all foreign assistance, bringing vital humanitarian development, and education programs to an abrupt halt.
The decision has left millions of vulnerable people worldwide facing an uncertain future, with essential services now suspended due to funding gaps.
Jesuit Mission Australia has mobilised to support its project partner, Jesuit Refugee Service
(JRS), which has been forced to suspend nine vital programs across nine countries, directly impacting over 100,000 refugees and leaving over half a million of our world’s most at-risk people in limbo with life on pause.
The 90-day funding suspension affects JRS humanitarian initiatives in Thailand, India, Chad, Colombia, Ethiopia, Iraq, South Africa, South Sudan and Uganda.
"In Thailand, more than 4,000 refugees and asylum seekers served by the Urban Refugee Project of JRS have been directly affected," said Fr Joe Hampson SJ, Regional Director of JRS Asia Pacific Region.
“Given that other NGOs in Thailand, especially those delivering healthcare, have had to scale down or totally shut their operations, more than 100,000 refugees and asylum seekers in the nine camps along the Thailand side of the border with Myanmar are greatly affected.
We need funding as we prepare for an influx of displaced people within Myanmar and in Thailand as these women, men and children in the most desperate of circumstances seek shelter, medical care and basic services.
For example, in the two northern-most camps where we provide educational services to 3,600 children, there are around 55 who are dependent medicine that we can no longer provide.
The global Society of Jesus, including Jesuit Mission Australia, has called for immediate action to fund the gap of US$1.5 million from the USAID suspension, in order to prevent irreparable harm to the most vulnerable communities.
Over US$18 million in JRS International funding for 2025 is now at risk.
"Now, more than ever, we are called to walk alongside our refugee brothers and sisters, embodying Christ’s love and ensuring they are not abandoned in their time of greatest need," said Helen Forde, CEO of Jesuit Mission.
Jesuit Mission, as part of the Xavier Network—a global coalition of Jesuit organisations working in faith to promote justice—is working alongside its partners to raise urgent funds to support JRS programs affected by the aid freeze.
“These cuts aren’t just numbers—they represent lives in limbo and lifelines on hold: children missing school, desperate parents losing income, traumatised mothers without psychosocial and medical support, and communities without access to vital care,” said Ms Forde.
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