Blogocentric Formulations

Refugee Resettlement

"JAFBG"  | Prompt ▼

Would you shelter a refugee in your home? What factors would you have to consider? What might make you say no?

I would 100% shelter a refugee in my home, no question. I can't imagine a scenario where, generally speaking, my answer to the question of, "Would you help someone in need?" would be, "I don't think so, no." That said, the circumstances would definitely play a big part in what specific way I thought I would best be able to help and it's not a one-size fits all problem, so the second two questions in this prompt are critical.


What factors would you have to consider?

My family lives in a townhouse, and with two kids running around, space always seems to be in short supply. The needs of the prospective refugee(s) would have to be a factor. Is it a single person? Is it a family? Would they be comfortable in a small room that doubles as an office, even if we moved the office stuff out? Would my kids have to share a room in order for everyone to have the space they need?

Timeframe would also be a consideration. Is this for a limited amount of time while they work through a more formal resettlement process? Do they need a permanent new residence?

The biggest considerations I'd have to make are mostly logistical, making sure that the space we have to offer is a good fit for their needs and something that my family could work with for however long was needed.


What might make you say no?

Obviously the biggest red flag would be anything that might put my own family at risk. If the refugee were some sort of a violent criminal, or was the subject of active pursuit where there was a chance my family would be in danger. That would be a nonstarter. Another would obviously be a scenario where we just couldn't make the logistics work.

I would probably also say no in cases where, more generally, actually living with us in Southern California wasn't an ideal situation... like if we were only taking one family member while the others were in different cities or states. Or where someone needed permanent resettlement. In cases like those, I would probably be more inclined to help in other ways, by finding acquaintances with the appropriate accommodations, or helping them financially or otherwise to get set up for success on their own.


I suppose the TL;DR version of this blog post is that I can't think of very many scenarios in which I wouldn't absolutely help a refugee in need. But there would be some real questions about whether staying with us would be the best thing for all involved. But would I hesitate to give someone in need a place to stay if it were in my power to do so and they needed one? Absolutely not. Refugee crises are only going to increase in the coming decades and I think it's a moral obligation of every human being to help other humans in need. If we were being displaced from our own home country for some reason, we would want to be able to rely on the kindness, compassion, and generosity of someone in another country to help us resettle. The least any of us can do is extend that courtesy to someone else.