Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Brits flock to offer spare rooms to fleeing Afghans
BIG-HEARTED Britons moved by images from Kabul this week have been offering spare rooms to fleeing Afghans. Charity Refugees at Home, which pairs refugees and asylum seekers with temporary hosts, reported an “unprecedented” surge in applications – with 300 new hosts signed up in a week.
Councils who will be housing refugees under the Government’s Afghan Citizens’ Resettlement Scheme have also had a rush of offers of spare bedrooms. Refugees at Home executive director Lauren Scott said: “A lot of people are saying they can’t watch what is happening on TV and do nothing. “So many spare rooms have become offices in the pandemic and we’ve lost hosts, so we need more, especially in big cities.” Refugees at Home works with migrants and asylum seekers not eligible for statutory support as solicitors have yet to process their claim. Last year the charity linked Match of the Day host Gary Lineker with a refugee who stayed at his Surrey home for three weeks. Charity co-founder Sara Nathan said they would now be assessing applicants, but needed more volunteer social workers and medics to help the process. She said: “Thank goodness the country is full of kind and welcoming people. It’s a small bit of light at a dark time.” Retired shipbuilder Neil Waugh, 76, of Wakefield, West Yorks, has offered the spare room in his two-bed bungalow to the council. “I feel a moral duty to do this. When Britain gave its word to help, they gave my word. Unlike this Tory government, I intend to keep it.”
Fellow Wakefield resident Claire Young, 42, said she and her mum had registered. She said: “I think it’s basic humanity that people want to help in this situation.”