What is Chaubertin?

Chaubertin is a small group of volunteers that provides emergency aid to homeless refugees in Paris. We distribute clothes, hygiene products and other necessities on the ground to support refugees in their struggle for survival on the streets. Currently, more than 2,000 homeless refugees live in degrading conditions in the northern outskirts of the city.

The name "Chaubertin" draws from the areas between Porte de la Chapelle, Porte d'Aubervilliers and Patin, where most of the encampments are situated.

Why do refugees live on the streets of Paris?

While some refugees have been legally approved as asylum seekers, they either can't obtain a place in a social housing center or don't receive enough financial aid to be able to afford housing. Others are still waiting for their asylum decision that can take several months. Even though refugees are entitled to housing and financial aid during the procedure, the French administration makes it very difficult for refugees to claim their rights. Unfortunately, a large number of refugees have become victims of the so-called Dublin Regulation, which threatens them with deportation to the country, in which they have registered their fingerprints. Those countries mostly don't offer future perspectives for refugees or even deport them back to their country of origin, which is the reason why they leave their fingerprint-registered countries and seek asylum in France. Under the Dublin status and depending on their situation, refugees are condemned to wait for 6 to 18 months to be able to apply for asylum in France – without housing, financial assistance or medical aid.

How can I help?

Money donation

To provide refugees with the basic necessities for their survival on the streets, we rely on money donations from compassionate and engaged people like you! Any amount is much appreciated and earns you at least 1000 karma points! 🙏

Click here to support our cause!

Item donation

We also appreciate donations of tents, sleeping bags, clothes, shoes and hygiene products. If you want to donate items, please refer to our donation page to see what's needed and how to donate. Please make sure to read the guidelines 😉

We collaborate with

MARDi is an international team of volunteers with a medical background, providing medical aid for refugees and displaced individuals. Where homeless refugees can't seek medical attention –– either due to their legal status, language barrier or physical inability –– MARDi personally visits refugee camps and delivers essential first aid to those in need. We have been working closely with the group, which has become an important partner for us on the ground. Donations to MARDi help the team to cover their expenses for medical supplies.

Hygiene is an important aspect of health and reduces the spread of diseases. The retention of a basic hygiene standard can be life-saving and essential to already vulnerable people with limited access to medical aid. SapoCycle combines health and hygiene with sustainability and recycles discarded hotel soaps to new bars, sending them all over the world to people in need of better sanitation. The Swiss initiative provides us with SapoCycle soaps to distribute in Parisian refugee encampments and has significantly helped to improve hygiene standards on the ground.

The volunteers of Serve the City Paris serve the general homeless population and regularly organize projects and activities to support people in need. A lot of the organization's efforts are tailored to refugees and asylum seekers as they make up a large number of homeless in the city. We have been collaborating with Serve the City on several refugee-focused initiatives, such as joint food distributions in various refugee camps, a winter shelter program, and improving the sanitary conditions in a refugee squat.

Phone Credit for Refugees provides a lifeline of hope for refugees and displaced people by providing valuable phone credit to those in need. Phone credit is a crucial asset that enables refugees to stay in touch with their families and loved ones at home and secures communication to administration offices, which is required to process their asylum claims. It also helps them build communication with volunteers and aid organizations like ours to report on the needs on the ground.

Your organization?

We believe in teamwork and are always happy to collaborate with others. No matter if you are a company, organization or group that would like to contribute to the cause or already provide aid to people in need but need more resources or can provide resources – we would love to hear from you! Contact us with a few lines about how we might be able to help each other 🥰

Special thanks

Thank you to SFEIR and all of the employees who helped in raising the initial funds making the first Chaubertin actions possible.