A Camp is Not a Home - A Europe Must Act Report
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Housing, at the very basic level, needs to be safe, secure and affordable.
These requirements should be met for all, whether it’s asylum seekers waiting in limbo or refugees who require long-term security as they adapt to their new reality.
Going beyond this, housing enables us to build community, provides us with comfort and creates a sense of belonging. It’s integral to our health, well-being and relationships and is, therefore, an undeniably critical element to welcoming people on the move to Europe.
When it comes to providing this vital need, the current Reception Conditions Directive (RCD) allows for each member state to determine their approach to material reception conditions to “ensure the protection of human dignity in accordance with the Charter of fundamental rights.”
This was updated in May 2024, following the new EU Pact on Asylum and Migration, as the European Parliament published the recast RCD. The recast placed a greater emphasis on standardising and clarifying material reception conditions, for example, by stating that not only should clothing and housing be provided but also hygiene products.
On top of this, it also specifies that Member States should “ensure, as far as possible, the prevention of assault and violence, including violence committed with a sexual, gender, racist or religious motive, when providing housing.”
There are also elements of the recast RCD that have been less welcomed. For example, an ECRE comments paper highlights that the new directive allows for some punitive measures, such as the withdrawal of an asylum applicant's right to reception conditions if they are outside of the responsible EU member state.
This criticism provides a useful insight into the attitudes towards housing asylum seekers and refugees. However, the descriptive power of legislation and directives only goes so far. As such, in this report, we have presented a more detailed view as we discuss the housing situation in Europe, barriers to accessing housing, examples of grassroots and NGO housing initiatives and, finally, we present our stance: that a camp is not a home.
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