Homeless in the house of God? An investigation of home and homelessness among undocumented migrants living in a Brussels church

The church is often considered a haven and a sanctuary. In the case of a group of undocumented and asylum-seeking Afghans in Brussels, a church was literally a place of refuge. This article explores the home-making practices of Afghan immigrants who were given sanctuary in a Brussels church and who made the church their living space. They slept, ate, socialised, and organised political activities in the church, while also appropriating nearby public spaces to serve various functions in their lives. Home is an increasingly important concept in migration studies, and this article explores home-making through an investigation of what may be lacking in the notion of sanctuary. In this article, home is treated as a series of connections, including connections to people, cultures, places and objects. These connections serve as a way to explore whether the Afghans made the church and surrounding urban space into a home or why they remained homeless despite the proffered sanctuary.