I have hosted many Afghan refugees in my spare room, and will continue to offer it. AMA

[54321nought]

Leading on from another thread, where concerns were raised about finding housing for the number of refugees coming into the UK, and whether they would be a threat to those offering to house them.

I have supported refugees, mostly Afghan refugees in a number of ways for many years, including hosting in my spare room.

I have never had an Afghan guest who has been anything other than polite, deferential, and unassuming, but very very interesting when they have opened up.

I also feel there is a misconception about the number s involved. It sounds like big numbers, but it is less than 1% of the number of English residents that die in an average year, just to put it into perspective - it is really not going to increase our population at all

And as far as housing goes, there is asylum seeker housing, but there is no refugee housing, hence why people like me host them. They are certainly not jumping the housing queue!

Have you had any memorable Afghan dishes, or learned to cook any? Are there foods that are generally disliked or a no-no?

Hi have a spare room in my house with on suite i can accomadate 3 , i really feel for these people at the moment and want to help
but how to i start who do i contact

@Enterthewolves

If anyone is interested these links may be helpful

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/11/how-do-i-offer-a-room-to-a-refugee

www.roomforrefugees.com/

www.refugeesathome.org/

Thanks OP for such an inspiring and hopeful thread

Here are some of the links that might be useful

Is it stressful? Do you ever feel afraid? I can't imagine supporting seriously traumatized people in my own home.

How did your children find it, and how old were they at the time?

Thank you for posting. I dont have a spare room but really want to help in some way. Is there anything else I could do?

@Macauley

Thank you for posting. I dont have a spare room but really want to help in some way. Is there anything else I could do?

www.help-refugees-uk.service.gov.uk/

We have just signed up to take in a refugee or a couple. This thread was really helpful. We have two children going off to university and two spare rooms. The children think it is a great idea.

@purpleme12

Wow this is fascinating reading

I don't understand how you can not know your date of birth and how old you are?

My Dad came from Ireland in the late 60s (sent from a home) and never knew his real birthday until the late 80s (when he applied for a passport)

He thought his birthday was a day after mine and my Twin Sister's, it wasn't, we shared the same birthday.

The Irish government also lied when they shipped him over, as he was underage. I've had to jump through hoops to settle his estate since he died. Our government think he's 3 years older than he was.

also many refugees come from countries where things are less organised than here, less govt bureacracy.
and by the very nature of needing to flee eg warfare, it is not always possible to get to the city to register a birth.
so people may not have a birth cert.
until quite recently, this was not so important in many places.
people would now roughly when they were born, by their place in the family. and family connections were the primary identifier, not a date.