Jersey generosity gives over 200 refugees a ‘lifeline’

Friday 27 October 2017

Scrolling through Instagram feeds and Facebook posts of smashed avocado, lattes and our colleagues’ holidays, a phone might seem like more of an accessory than an essential - but when you’re in a land 4,000km from home where you barely speak the language, without the help of friends or family, it’s a lifeline.

Now 210 refugees will be able to benefit from that lifeline, thanks to the generosity of Family Nursing Home Care (FNHC) and the Jersey Cares; Refugee Aid Group (JCRAG) charity.

“In the media it always looked like refugees come off the boat in Greece with flashy iPhones – that really isn’t always the case. Sometimes they’re coming in soaking wet with absolutely nothing – they’ve lost everything along the way,” JCRAG member Linda Houzé told Express.

“There are families out there wondering if their kids are still alive. So to be able to have a text to say they’re safe, to be able to let their mums know they’re ok is really important.” 

Pictured: Mrs Houzé said that it was a common misconception that refugees fled their homes and arrived on European shores with luxury smartphones.

So dire is their need to connect, that some will choose to go without food – potentially for days – in a bid to save money for phone credit.

But it’s not just about keeping in touch with family and friends spread throughout Europe as a result of the Syrian refugee crisis, as well as troubles in the wider Middle East and Africa. Having no fixed address, they need a point of contact in order to help progress their asylum claims.

“They quite often get their asylum appointments changed at the last minute so at least if they’ve got a mobile number, they might get a text to say it’s been changed, rather than getting two buses and a train somewhere to find their appointment has been cancelled,” Mrs Houzé explained.

This should hopefully cease to be a reality for the lucky 210 who will be equipped with FNHC’s donation. They were able to donate the handsets after upgrading their phones to modern smartphones thanks to a donation from a Jersey supporter.

Video: Mrs Houzé described mobiles as a "lifeline" for refugees. Here's why. (Best watched on a smartphone)

Fundraising Manager Ivo Le Maistre Smith commented: “Although the old handsets cannot access modern medical networks, they still function well as mobile phones and we did not want to discard them as waste.  FNHC is therefore pleased to be able to support the good work done by other charities by donating the mobile phones that we can no longer use.”

Having carefully charged up and checked that each phone functions, Mrs Houzé has packaged each of the valuable lifelines in a sandwich bag along with a charger and conversion plug ready to be shipped to Paris in a JCRAG trip next month.

The mobiles will also allow the charity to communicate with refugees living on the Parisian streets. Many of them lack sleeping bags, appropriate footwear and warm coats for the brutal winter season ahead. Phones will allow the charities to deliver essential aid to those who need it most.

“I’ve worked a night shift on the streets of Paris where we’ve found people wearing flipflops when they need shoes. They’re forever dodging the police and moving from A to B so finding someone is never really straightforward, so we get their mobile numbers and call them back to take them shoes… We also found a family that didn’t have blankets or sleeping bags. We took their number and got them the warmer stuff,” Mrs Houzé said.

210 old but useful mobile phones donated by #JerseyCI Family Nursing & Home Care to #refugees. The ability to communicate is paramount. pic.twitter.com/NlmqJArZJ9

— JCRAG (@JCRAG) October 14, 2017

While she added that the charity were fortunate to have received this donation, she said they’re always on the lookout for more. “They’re the sort of thing people usually have in a drawer thinking they’ll keep it as a back-up and they never really use. To be able to give them something that we might just throw in the bin – even if it doesn’t have a camera or internet or whatever – it’s a lifeline for them.”

At the moment, they’re particularly in need of Samsung chargers.

For those that want to help but don’t have any spare phones, credit donation schemes such as the ‘Phone Credit for Refugees and Displaced People’ Facebook page are also incredibly helpful. There are also a number of grassroots charities which provide mobile charging and wifi hotspots often run from Parisian locals’ cars and vans.

Helping either way, Mrs Houzé said, could even go so far as saving a life.

Video: The powerful work of Phone Credit For Refugees, a fundraising initiative allowing refugees and displaced people to get in touch with their families again.

Last year, a seven-year-old Afghan boy was rescued from a tightly packed lorry with 14 adults after he sent a message for help from a phone he was handed by a charity in Calais. His text, which said there was “No oksijan [oxygen] in the car”, prompted a police response. 

“If he hadn’t had a phone to text someone he trusted for help, they probably all would have died in the back of that van,” Mrs Houzé said.