Flüchtlinge Willkommen (Refugees Welcome) provides assistance on issues of co-habitation and financial solutions for refugees wanting to live in private accomodation. Refugees looking for a room and people who have a spare room in a shared flat can register on the platform and will then be matched.

With their project, Flüchtlinge Willkommen is criticising German housing policies that force refugees into camps and shelters where they lack personal space and are subject to marginalisation.  Through their initiative, Flüchtlinge Willkommen wants to lobby for decentralised housing solutions for refugees as well as to contribute to an open and welcoming society. One of their core values as an organisation is the principle that no one is illegal.

Flüchtlinge Willkommen is a non-profit and the core team is financed through donations and grants. Financial stability has therefore been an important challenge from the beginning. The project’s success depends on people’s willingness to rent their spare rooms out to refugees. Therefore, the public opinion and presence of refugee related topics in the media are directly linked to the level of people’s engagement. For example after the terrorist attacks in Paris in late 2015, donations and the number of volunteers saw a sudden and sharp decline. The project is thus reliant on visibility and positive news coverage.  So far Flüchtlinge Willkommen has matched 424 people across Germany and 1220 internationally.

Website: https://www.fluechtlinge-willkommen.de/en/

Twitter: @FlchtlngWllkmmn 

Case study date: June 2018