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Need help for my refugee neighbours
Hi, I'll try to be brief. My neighbours are journalists who arrived from Iraq in November.
They left the camp very early to go into a house because they have a dog. Unfortunately, I think they may have cut themselves off from any support systems they may have had access to if they had stayed in the camp and now they are relying on me and my wife quite a bit for help which is fine but I'm in a difficult situation financially myself.
They are quite depressed and sleep all day and they are having problems paying the rent and I think they are going to be thrown out of the house soon. They're not able to get money from home at the moment because of a string of problems I won't go into.
Anyway, I need to know if there are any organisations that can help them in any way at all.
Secondly, they are TV journalists and they need help in this regard. They have been offered work with an Iraqi TV station but they need either a camera person or access to a camera. Are there any Arabic/refugee/anything media organisations that can help them.
Thirdly, their English is pretty rudimentary I've had a lot of difficulties explaining the system for putting out the rubbish and also the fact that their heavy use of the heating system is going to cost them dearly and many other things. I need someone who speaks decent Arabic and French/English to explain these things to them.
Thanks in advance for any info you can provide.
I'm afraid what you have written is not going to make your neighbours look great. They have a dog but they are in financial difficulties? Really? I had kids and a partner who fled and left me with nothing and ZERO support systems and I went and took any work I could. I wouldn't have dreamt of having a dog!!!!! If they are asylum seekers, they should have all the info they need from FEDASIL.
"Anyway, I need to know if there are any organisations that can help them in any way at all."
Sounds to me from your description, that these folks are taking massive advantage of your kindness / naïveté. I would strongly advise you to step back a little.
There are loads of organisations in Belgium dealing with kind of situation, from voluntary groups, to the CPAS (or whatever the flemish equivalent is) at your local commune. However, their first port of call, as Shortof noted above, should be FEDASIL.
Sounds like they should try to find "refugee" in another country other than Belgium.
Try CPAS as mentioned, if you live in a Flemish speaking area it's OCMW, these are the people who will know what to do and will be able to help you.
Try FEDASIL.
Too bad there aren't more people like you here. You sound very kind and non-judgemental.
Hopefully these people get the help they need.
