Irish Red Cross Appeal for pledges from public for spare rooms to help shelter Ukrainian refugees

The Irish Red Cross is in discussions with the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP) regarding the accommodation of the soon to arrive refugees from Ukraine. Given our experience with migration programmes into Ireland we will be using our Register of Pledges where we seek from the public spare rooms and vacant properties so we can help Ukrainian refugees live in our communities.

Already over 2,000 pledges have been registered with the Irish Red Cross, over 97 coming from people in Meath. An update to the Irish Red Cross crisis appeal sees €12m in donations from the amazing generous Irish public this week.

One of the new developments in this sector is Community Sponsorship Ireland. The Department of Children Equality Integration Disability and Youth has funded various organisations across the country including the Irish Red Cross to enable communities come together and sponsor a family.

It requires having in place a strong committee, completing a training programme, providing funding and access to a property. Once the conditions are met the refugee family is welcomed into the community. This scheme has worked really well to date and the Irish Red Cross has five groups in operation already with refugees from countries such as Syria and Afghanistan.

Irish Red Cross Secretary General Liam O’Dwyer said: “Welcoming refugees to Ireland is something the Irish Red Cross has been doing for more than 50 years including from countries like Vietnam, Hungary, Syria and Afghanistan. In 2015 during the height of the Syrian conflict the Government agreed to take in 4000 Syrian refugees and on arrival gave them protection status and we were privileged to lend assistance here along with the UNHCR.

"Part of our brief here was to build a relationship with a specific group of refugees, learning what their needs and plans were and working to match them with pledged and private rented accommodation throughout Ireland.

“Typically with this humanitarian work the Irish Red Cross case workers connect refugees with the hosting families and keep in touch to ensure their education or work plans develop properly.

"At the end of the pledge the case workers helped the refugee access either private rented accommodation or a social house. Our programme is currently working with and accommodating refugees from Afghanistan and are currently preparing for refugees due to arrive from Lebanon.

"Our strong record and experience accommodating and supporting the integration of refugees in communities around Ireland along with the recognition of the Red Cross symbol really gives them confidence in us,” he continued.

If you are in apposition to offer support in the form of accommodation for Ukrainian refugees - Check out the Red Cross register of pledges website - https://registerofpledges.redcross.ie/