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Do you have enough room for an asylum seeker?

Do you have a spare room, a granny flat… a house? Then you can help.

There are almost 40,000 asylum seekers currently living in Australia and nearly 7 million spare rooms in Australian homes.

These refugees have fled horrific circumstances in their home countries and, despite having been granted protection by our government, they still face enormous barriers accessing safe, stable housing in our communities.

It doesn’t add up.

Enough Room is a new grass roots initiative that aims to connect asylum seekers with Australians who have the space to accommodate them.

As one woman from inner Sydney writes:

“I can sign petitions, have my voice heard at rallies, write letters to the Government but nothing changes. I feel powerless and ashamed to be Australian. But with Enough Room, suddenly I can do something tangible — it might only help a few people, but they are individuals whose desperately need help, and I have one small thing I can offer — a room.”

If you have a spare, furnished bedroom, a granny flat or even a whole house you are willing to offer to an asylum seeker, for a minimum of four weeks, then you can make a difference.

Watch this video for more information (post continues after):

All you have to do is sign up on the Enough Room website, complete a short online training course and an approved agency will contact you if their is an asylum seeker in your area in need of assistance – it’s that easy.

Currently, the program is only available to people living in Sydney, but hopefully, if enough people show they’re willing to open their hearts and their homes, it can be rolled out nationwide.

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Top Comments

Keira 9 years ago

We could potentially take 1 person or a parent and infant/toddler. I have a cot (and clothes, toys, etc) and the kids love to have sleep overs in the same bedroom.

With a bit of help, I could convert our garage into a living area as well.


Anon 9 years ago

It's a nice idea, though it does rely heavily on everybody being able to make and sustain adjustments to their preferred lifestyle to suit others. Not always easy to do, hope there's an out for both sides if it's not working or it could be a looong and potentially dangerous (ptsd) 4 weeks for some.