Catalonia welcomes 208 refugees who fled Taliban takeover of Afghanistan
Minister criticizes "opaque" nature of Spanish evacuations for giving priority to army collaborators
asylum seekers
'The people who are most at risk cannot leave the country', warns Afghan activist
Catalonia will take in 208 of the 1,700 refugees granted asylum in Spain following the Taliban takeover
Government wants to give asylum seekers temporary work permits
Catalan social affairs minister picks up tips in Germany during visit to Patrick Henry Village refugee center in Heidelberg
Unresolved asylum applications exceed 100,000 in Spain
Catalan Commission for Refugees expresses "great disappointment" over policies of Pedro Sánchez government
Asylum seekers in Catalonia could triple this year, says human rights group
Commission for Refugees hopes Catalan people will show they are “a welcoming society”
Barcelona’s Mayor reports to the EC Spain’s “immoral” management of the refugee crisis
Barcelona’s Mayor, Ada Colau, travelled to Brussels this Tuesday to report Spain’s “immoral”management regarding the refugee crisis, which she described as “deeply shaming”. According to Colau, citizens in Barcelona “are asking to be a host city”and “die of shame and outrage when they see images of Lesbos and Idomeni”. “We are part of the solution, we have expertise and are willing to help”she stated, but regretted that sometimes local governments “are not taken into account”. Together with other European mayors, Colau met the EU's migration Commissioner, Dimitris Avramopoulos, and the EU Commissioner for Regional Policy, Corina Cretu, and asked them to “listen to the local governments”. Avramopoulos assured that he “took note”of Colau’s demands but emphasised that EU support to local authorities is always “through the Member States”.
Project to honour thousands of Jews who braved Catalan Pyrenees to escape Holocaust
The project ‘Persecuted and Saved’ will tell the story of how 80,000 WW2 refugees escaped persecution and death through the Pyrenees mountains into Catalonia. The Israel Ambassador in Spain, Alon Bar, and the CEO of EL-AL - the main Israeli airline, Walter Wasercier, have already taken a key interest in the project, aiming to promote the history of the 20,000 Jews that used the mountains to escape from the Holocaust and obtain their freedom. The project is based in the Province of Lleida, in western Catalonia, around various historical sites, including refugee camps and mountain pathways used by fleeing refugees.
Catalan Government approves its first International Protection Plan for refugees
On Tuesday, the Catalan Government approved the International Protection Plan of Catalonia, which aims to protect people forced to leave their country for being persecuted. It is the first time Catalonia has its own legal instrument to face the issue of asylum seekers, displaced people and human trafficking victims. This new tool establishes the principles, measures and funding schemes to host and offer protection to people who fled their country due to a grounded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, membership of a social group, gender or sexual orientation. Among other things, the Plan encourages issuing new proposals to improve the legal status of these people, offer them better training, improve their reception, integration and participation.