‘Friends for life’: how living with locals helped refugees feel at home in a new country theconversation com

Benefits for hosts
Hosts indicated that this is not just an investment, but also an enrichment. In the words
of one host:
I am convinced that when a host family and a guest are living together so intensively at such
a crucial moment in the guest’s life, connectedness and companionship arise.
Hosts indicated that they “became friends for life” with their guest, that their children
“now look positively towards refugees”, that their “understanding for people with
different ideas has been enlarged” and that they became “even more grateful for
everything around me: freedom, family, peace”. Others also said they “learned about a
new culture and habits (which also confronts you with your own culture and habits)” and
that they gained “more insight into/respect for [refugees’] situation”.
Based on our findings, the Dutch government began a one-year pilot study in 2018 in
which Takecarebnb received financial support from the government for every successful
match made between host and guest. After a positive evaluation of the pilot, the
cooperation between Takecarebnb and the Dutch government has continued indefinitely.
In the UK, the Home Office has announced its intention to resettle 20,000 Afghan
refugees in the coming years. We recommend local councils work closely with
organisations with a similar mission to Takecarebnb, such as Refugees at Home and City
of Sanctuary in order to give refugees and local communities the best chance at successful
integration.

---

3/3
Our work with Takecarebnb taught us two key lessons: first, that temporarily hosting
refugees by local hosts can foster integration tremendously. And second, that there are
ample people willing to help by opening up their homes – they just need a platform that
enables them to do so.
*Names have been changed.