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What Can We Do to Help A Refugee Family in France?
Does anyone know? We would so very like to take in (literally) or at least sponsor a refugee family here, preferably in the Dordogne, but really anywhere. Our mayor hasn't been much help, and I'm a bit reluctant to go to the Red Cross, the only charitable organization in town.
I watch the news here in Europe nightly and just feel so powerless, and even though we were poor as churchmice for several years we never endured what these refugees are enduring. I would feel so good to offer anyone a hot shower, a comfortable bed, good hot meals several times a day, some company and solace. Anyone know how to do that in France? I guess I should expand my google searches, which haven't unearthed much here. I'm feeling very depressed about Trump for sure, but also thinking there are positive things we can do in the face of his animosity toward poor, deprived people from war-torn countries. We would really love to sponsor a Syrian family (I'm sure it would present a LOT of issues, but I think we would deal with them). Happy to hear from anyone with any ideas. We are really committed to this endeavor. |
Why not talk to Red Cross? It's not necessarily that you would have to go through them, but I think it's pretty likely that they keep a list of organizations that you could work with.
It sounds like it's a long hard (expensive) road even if the government supports private individuals sponsoring refugees. Do you know if France allows individuals to sponsor independently? Or do they only allow people to sponsor refugees through organizations (mostly I've heard of church congregations doing this). I did some googling and France doesn't really show up on any of the lists of the places that do it- But that may be because I don't google in French. Did find an article from last summer that said the French housing authority was looking for volunteers (organizations) to sponsor resettlements. So possibly also check the gov sites? |
If you are in France and speak French, suggest you contact Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) International. They do some extremely heavy lifting rescuing people from drowning, getting them medicine in terrible refugee camps, etc, and they can direct you. Don't be surprised if they tell you the biggest help you can be is to give money to them, but you might be surprised to learn that a very modest amount of money can actually save innumerable lives when spent through MSF. Buying several weeks worth of infant formula, or paying for a whooping cough vaccination is just as good as opening your home.
Of course it is possible they might ultimately put you in contact directly with families in need, but realize that any family coming into France as either asylum seekers or refugees must go through extremely rigorous paperwork-processes, some conducted by the UN, some by the state, so it is unlikely. |
Vive le France
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St.Cirq, sorry I can't offer any but the most obvious advice, but I commend your courage and conviction. Good luck.
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It seems like a great idea but one major hurdle is that, in the long run, refugees prefer to be resettled with other refugees from the same area, not to be isolated. For example, Lithuania always accepts its fair share of refugees as allocated by the EU (very small number), sets them up and then they bolt to Germany or places that have larger numbers of refugees.
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Marija, I am Canadian.. and we have accepted some refugees as you know.. I live on an island and some have been sponsored to settle here.. they are not with groups or family members mostly either, and I doubt most complain when offered an opportunity to start a new life.. we certainly haven't seen any refugee refuse a settlement.. and we have some going to some more remote places.
They don't get to choose where to go. .. they could refuse I am sure, but who would do that? |
StCirq good for you.. we just donate money to our more local refugees.. its nice to get to know ( through social agencies) the family where the money is going rather than just a giant agency fund.
We have had a family in our area sponsored initially through a church , but that is a one year commitment only, and set them up etc. which they have done well, a local man even offered his basement suite to house them . It is an 8 member family and now they need extra funds because two of the children are so traumatized.. one cannot talk ( and is 6) and they both need more councelling. The father needs extensive dental work as all his front teeth were knocked out with a rifle butt.. in front of his family.. so now another fundraising campaign has started. In 2 days we have raised over 5,000 dollars for the family just though Gofundme page and word of mouth. I think the refugee situation brings out the best in people.. or the worst! |
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I don't know if or how immigrants could find their way to the Dordogne. Most of them are sent to official clearing houses in major cities like Paris, first.
In many arrondissements in Paris, there are periodic "collectes" at the Mairie. If your Mayor isn't interested in organizing one, perhaps you should start the ball rolling. We were asked to bring blankets, good used clothing, backpacks, toiletries, towels and tents. The outpouring of all these items was enormous when I was living in the 3eme. The items were moved around to wherever the need was greatest. If you want to sponsor a family, you have to be investigated and matched with an appropriate family, and will have to agree to house, feed and help counsel them for a definite period of time. You should use the website kerouac recommended for that. |
I dropped into Tourist Info in Eguisheim in Sept and ran into an extended Syrian family who were staying above the office. I only had a few minutes to chat but their son's English was excellent. While the government had put them in Eguisheim (some sort of dispersal policy) they had been placed in the house by the Mayor, and were receiving a lot of day to day support from the Church, including a tour of the region that they were just going off on.
On a happy note, I was online just before Christmas and saw a photo of the Rene Mure late harvest team and guess who was in the line up from the picking? If every town looked after one family... |
In our town, the parish is sponsoring refugees. Maybe you could ask your local parish if they need lodging.
Most of the refugees here are from Africa, because that's who mostly arrives on the boats from Libya. We are a small town, and there are about 30 refugees here. There seems to be plenty of lodging available. They're mostly put in uninhabited houses, and the Italian government pays rent to the owners. |
Thanks for all the good ideas. We do have Syrian (and other) refugees here in the Dordogne - there have been stories about them in Le Sudouest, which I read almost daily. I will go to the church in Le Bugue and contact Médecins San Frontières and La Cimade. I'll also stop by the Red Cross - my hesitation to do so was because they have a reputation here for using most of the donations for administrative purposes rather than direct help, but that could just be local hearsay. We would rather be involved more directly than just giving money, but if nothing else we would be happy to organize a collecte here in St-Cirq and gather clothing and supplies for any nearby refugee families in need.
Clearly I have more work to do... |
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I work through an order of nuns who run a refugee program and that notice about wanting help came through our parish . There are at least 2 orders of nuns in our town who run a variety of programs for refugees .
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When we supported a refugee from FYR years ago, we did it through the church we belonged to at the time. There was a full support team and we had a complete package of information about the family (how many kids, boys or girls, ages, interests, any special medical conditions, speaking and writing level of English, etc).
DH and I were in the process of buying a new sofa and a new mattress/box spring set, so we gave our existing sofa and bedding to them (all less than 3 years old). The team organised a shopping trip to Target to get them new, not bottom end but not expensive cookware, dishes etc -- the team had agreed in advance that we wanted some things to be new if we could afford it so that the start to their new lives wasn't completely hand-me-down. After getting their new residence set up, we created a buddy system to accompany them to their appointments, and show them where to shop, how to use the local bus system. A teacher, accountant and lawyer volunteered their expertise. The father in the family quickly got involved in our local Habitat for Humanity projects -- I think it was important for him to feel like he was doing more than accepting handouts, that his family could give back as well. Good luck! |
Great information. Thanks to all of you! We have to deal with our French taxes for the next couple of days, but will start contacting organizations and setting up appointments by the end of the week.
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I have to admit that a church would be about the last place I would think to consult since France is the second least religious country in the world after Czechia (as we are supposed to call that country now).
Of course that would probably be a mistake in my own neighborhood since most of the priests are African and the local congregations in this part of Paris are almost completely made up of immigrants. They would probably have lots of ideas. (About 25% of the new priests in France are African now since the supply we were getting from Poland dried up. As for French priests, I think I read that France produced only 110 priests last year.) |
Churches are big on doing that in the US, also, it doesn't matter if people aren't religious because it's really a social outreach or social justice program. Besides, even if a church doesn't have as many members as it used to, it might still do that. You can bet there are some programs already in France.
http://www.paris.catholique.fr/-migrants-.html in Dordogne http://diocese24.fr/cellule-de-reference-des-migrants/ |
No insights but just to applaud you in this humane quest!
Bravo! |
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