'Guide for Refugees' has been released as an illustrated reference
'Guide for Refugees' is a response to the French president, who said that the country would take in only 24,000 people, says Philippe Gloaguen, publisher and one of the founders of the Guide du Routard series, in an interview with RFI, and provides for comparison a historical reference: "In 1914, France took in one and a half million Belgian refugees alone, who were fleeing the German army at the beginning of World War I. So back then we took in at least 62 times more people than today. I have the feeling that our great-grandfathers were 62 times braver than François Hollande."
Publisher Gloaguen decided that he would not join the government, which speaks of the need for a humane approach to the issue of receiving refugees while at the same time setting limits on humanity. Gloaguen says he released the 'Guide for Refugees' without any state assistance, with the participation of a well-known French travel agency, which paid half the cost.
"This is a wordless guide, it consists only of drawings and allows human rights activists to make contact with refugees, understand their requests and wishes," says Philippe Gloaguen. "Whether it is information about treatment or about obtaining political refugee status in France, the refugee only has to point a finger at what he needs. This facilitates the work of the staff of charitable organizations, together with whom, by the way, we developed this guide. We distributed hundreds of drawings into five chapters: documents, housing, health, food, entertainment."
The initial print run of this reference book, which can also be downloaded for free from the publisher's website, is 5,000 copies, of which 4,000 will be given to the National Federation of Associations for the Reception of Refugees, which unites 870 organizations.
"I already understood that we ourselves – each in our own place – must help refugees. Because the government has already given its answer: 24,000 over two years. This number does not suit me at all," notes Philippe Gloaguen. "So we – together with all these unfortunate people who are forced to flee from death – must get by on our own. Perhaps this guide will inspire other French people. For example, someone living in a large apartment might decide to provide one or two rooms for a few weeks to a refugee family. Maybe a translator who is already retired will decide to dedicate one day a week to translate for free from Arabic or any other language that refugees speak.
It's not that difficult. During World War II, there were families who hid Jews, risking their own lives. We are not risking anything. And we are sacrificing almost nothing. Just a little bit of time and effort."