Refugees helped in Barcelona until July 2018 surpass total in 2017
Deputy mayor Jaume Asens calls on Spanish government to not leave Catalan capital “alone” in dealing with crisis
The number of people fitting the profile of asylum seeker helped in the first seven months of the year in Barcelona exceeded these individuals aided in all of 2017. Up until July 2018, 4,567 people were helped – this, compared to the 4,405 in all of last year. This, for the month of July, represents a 74% increase.
And this is not the only number that’s gone up: the total number of minors in familial nuclei has doubled for this same month compared to 2017, going from 510 to 1,020. The number of minors attended to in the first semester and a month of 2018 also surpassed that of last year, which was at 846 total.
These figures were released at a joint press conference held at the city council of Barcelona, including a representative from the city’s Service Centre for Immigrants, Emigrants and Refugees (SAIER) on August 29. In the first seven months of 2018, SAIER saw a total of 12,621 individuals.
Barcelona urges to not be left “alone” in dealing with crisis
While evaluating positively the steps taken by the Catalan government, which has offered to help in the recent crisis—as well as the Spanish government, which seems to be more receptive to welcoming asylum seekers than Rajoy’s executive—Barcelona urges to not be left “alone” to deal with the issue.
The deputy mayor of the Catalan capital, Jaume Asens, stated today that while the Spanish government had proven “very receptive” to the city’s requests, there are still “pending issues.” Asens praised the Pedro Sanchez and his council of ministers approving a more head-on plan to tackle the crisis at the beginning of August, but warned that this should continue even “after the cameras turn off.”
Barcelona, Refugee City
This plays a part in the ongoing effort by Barcelona to better handle the influx of individuals seeking asylum – a plan called ‘Barcelona, Refugee City,’ launched in 2015. And efforts do not only come from the city council.
As well as calls from the Catalan government to increase and to more efficiently welcome migrants, citizens demand more as well. This was best seen in the February 2017 march where hundreds of thousands took to the streets, urging Spain to fulfill EU requirements, and welcome more refugees.