COUPLE TOOK REFUGEES INTO THEIR HOME
AYOUNG couple who welcomed refugees from wartorn and repressive countries into their home have spoken of their experience. Anna Colquhoun and her boyfriend Chris Kelly, pictured below, decided to welcome refugees into their home in Fairwater in Cardiff after deciding to help amid a turbulent political climate.
The process was arranged through the charity Refugees at Home, who aim to connect people with a spare room with asylum seekers and refugees in need of accommodation.
Anna, 28, said: “It was a few things that made us decide to do it. I live with my boyfriend and we own a house and we were talking at Christmas the year before last, thinking about the year, and what we wanted to do.
“It was quite a political time, obviously, with Brexit, and we thought about what we could do.
“We had heard about this scheme and decided to look into it.
“We just felt like their message about what they were trying to do really spoke about what we are about as well.
“Their values really resonated with us.
“There’s lots of coverage about what happens in Syria, and we wanted to help in a practical way.”
Anna said that, before hosting, the organisation carries out a home visit to check your circumstances and suitability, and that before their first guest moved in they first met at a café.
Refugees at Home said that they “do their best” to carry out checks on potential guests, and many are referred from refugee agencies.
The first person they hosted was a man in his 30s from Syria.
Anna said: “We both found it really, really rewarding. The first person that we hosted had just been granted their refugee status, so he was right at the beginning of that whole process.
“He wasn’t too sure how to navigate that process so we had quite an active role in all of that.
“Over the time of him living with us his English was getting better all the time.
“Then he had a job and enough money to get his own flat.
“He was just starting to have his own life and have more choices.”
Although Anna said the entire process was positive, she added that there were some challenges.
Anna said: “For some people, if they don’t speak much English that would be a problem, but our first person was an English teacher in Syria.
“When he first moved in with us he did share a lot with us about his life in Syria, and that could be quite emotionally tough.
“I didn’t think I would be as affected by it as I was.
“Working in mental health I am used to having those conversations, but at work it is a different environment than at home.
“But at the same time it was really important for him to be able to talk about it. “I took it as a compliment.” Anna said that when he left after 10 months the couple had mixed feelings.
She said: “It felt really lovely in some ways, because he had done so well. Particularly that he had got a job, that was so nice to see.
“But then it felt really sad because he had lived with us for such a long time.”
The second person the couple hosted was a man in his 20s from Eritrea.
According to Human Rights Watch, the country on the horn of Africa has an “abysmal” respect for human rights obligations.
Thousands of Eritreans flee the country monthly to avoid national service, which lasts indefinitely.
Anna said: “He was in full-time college and his needs were a bit different.
“He lived with us for six weeks. He was a bit more private and he already had a friendship group in Cardiff.”
For other people looking to host in their home, Anna said to get plenty of information on the process beforehand.
Anna said: “We would both wholeheartedly recommend it.
“We sort of have an obligation to help others. Without getting too preachy that’s the way it should be.”