Words by Smiley Team
When Agnès Bekkai heard on the news about the growing wave of migrants coming to France in 2015, she knew she had to do something to help. Working in a full-time job she didn’t have the time to volunteer, but she did have a spare room in her house while her adult daughter was away. So she decided to offer the space to refugees.
Going online she discovered SINGA France, a website where she could sign up to host refugees. They partnered her with a young man who had travelled all over Europe trying to seek asylum. He only decided to remain in France after a police officer at a French airport, astounded by how many countries he’d travelled to, told him to rest a bit in one place so he could settle down.
After seeking benefits from the French state for the refugee, Agnès took him into her home in central Paris, where they lived just like ordinary flatmates. Occasionally they would eat together and she offered him help with applying for documents and state support.
“It gives me a small place in society,” she said. “I honestly get the impression that finally, I serve something bigger than myself, something useful. I can meet people from other nationalities, learn a bit about their language and it’s a good experience.”
After leaving her home, Agnès’s first refugee flatmate went on to find work as a cook in a restaurant. Despite the enormous bureaucratic obstacles that exist in France to securing accommodation, he also found his own place to live near the end of 2019.
Agnès went on to welcome several other young refugees into her home. Educated to various degrees, all of them enrolled on French-language programmes, which migrants are required to complete under French law.
“The refugees most in need of shelter are largely young men between the ages of 25 and 30,” she explained, “because it’s always them who end up in the street. Women and children are usually given accommodation.”
Among the others who lived with her, was a man who had fled persecution by the Taliban, as well as two Sudanese refugees who escaped the war in Darfur. Agnès would listen to their stories and help them integrate into French society, cooking for them on special occasions such as Christmas (pictured).
Founded as a collective of citizens in 2012, SINGA France helps create opportunities for refugees by building relationships with their host communities. Its programmes have helped over 3,000 refugees, including at least 500 who were housed through the project that Agnès participated in.
In the UK there exists a similar charity called Refugees At Home, who help those fleeing disasters to settle into British society by connecting them with citizens offering a spare room. If you would be interested to host a refugee, you can sign up via their online form. Alternatively, you can support refugees to find work and accommodation by donating to Refugees At Home.
As Agnès said, “We should help foreigners struggling to integrate. If you have a spare room, or if you can help, then do help.”
