A new family of refugees is welcomed in Barcelona

After two years, the refugee crisis is still not over. In the midst of the critical situation, Barcelona welcomes a new family, and asks Spain for €2.3 million more for the refugee services it provides, one of the many appeals that the Catalan capital has made to the Spanish government.

A family of three

The newly arrived refugees are a family of three, consisting of a woman, a man, and a minor. They are of Syrian nationality, but are arriving to the Catalan capital via Turkey, according to the Minister of Home Affairs. Once settled, the family can expect to wait between two to three months to receive official services from the Spanish government. During this time, they will be cared for by the Barcelona social services.

To alleviate the financial strain of cases like these, the Barcelona City Council is asking that the Spanish government pay invoices for a value of €2.3 million. This amount is what Barcelona has spent on services allotted to the welcome of refugees, yet Spain is the entity that receives European funds to that end. Indeed, Barcelona city council representative Jaime Asens said that social services are under “a lot of pressure.”

2016’s figures to double this year

The process of applying for the first step – an asylum permit granted by Spain – can take up to three months. During this time, Barcelona has been housing applicants, in order to keep them off the street. In 2016, this amount totaled to approximately €800,000, and the municipal forecast predicts twice as much for this year.

The long wait for help and housing is partially due to the Spanish government outsourcing Catalan cases to the Red Cross, but without enough financial backing. Asylum applicants – including the large amount that arrive by plane and are subsequently taken in charge by local social services – are then largely dependent on the city of Barcelona and the Service Center for Immigrants, Emigrants and Refugees (SAIER).

An ongoing struggle  

Barcelona’s struggle to welcome more refugees with limited resources has been ongoing. In February, more than 160,000 people took to the streets in Barcelona to demand the Spanish Government open its doors to more applicants.

One of things to set the march in motion was Spain’s pledge to take in approximately 16,000 asylum seekers from other EU countries, under a quota system agreed upon on 2015. September 28 marks the end of the agreed term within which Spain was to welcome 17,337. So far, less than 2,000 have been received.

The exact numbers total 1,983 applicants for international protection, of which 1,279 arrived via relocation, and 704 via resettlement. Indeed, only 46 people in Barcelona have officially been approved by the Spanish government. This, out of the 3,000 that have arrived in the Catalan capital since the beginning of the year.

As per the newly arrived family, they will await their application to be processed. Meanwhile, Barcelona’s refugee welcome system will offer the family support and help for lodging, legal and psychological assistance, social welfare and counseling, public health and social services, language learning, vocational training, job integration, and financial aid, among other things.