A growing number of people across Europe, dissatisfied with their governments’ response to the migration crisis, are finding their own ways to support the people crossing into Europe.
We want to hear from ordinary people in Europe who’ve helped those seeking asylum or those who have recently arrived.
Mareike Geiling set up Refugees Welcome – a self-described “Airbnb for refugees” – in order to offer refugees space in a shared home rather than mass accommodation. Despite Germany offering more asylum places than any other European country, Geiling believes that Germans would like more opportunities to help.
“There is a discrepancy between the government and the will of the citizens,” Geiling told the Guardian. “Our whole German, and European, way of seeing ourselves will change within the next decade. The people coming here shouldn’t be seen as a threat but as a chance,” she said.
But it’s not just German people helping out. Thousands of Icelanders offered their homes to Syrian refugees last week, after an open letter to the government about the migration crisis was posted on Facebook. And people in the UK without any humanitarian training have been travelling to Calais’s so-called jungle camp to deliver donations.
These are just a few of the many initiatives happening across Europe. We want to hear about yours.
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