Women in Black join the campaign “Queremos Acoger Ya!” [We Want to Welcome Now]. World Refugee Day is commemorated on 20 June. June 15 is the day against the Centros de Internamiento de Extranjeros (CIEs) [Centers for Detention of Foreigners].
Sixty-five million people flee from their countries because of armed conflict, violence, persecution and violation of rights. No funds are set aside to help these people. We spend it to impede their entry, tightening laws of asylum, buying off third counties with illegal agreements to detain those who seek refuge, countries that are unsafe in terms of human rights. Last year spent 15.000 million Euros on border barriers.
In 2015 Europe reached an agreement to redistribute, within two years, 120,000 refugees from Italy, Greece, Turkey or Lebanon. The government of committed to take in 17,337 refugees. The period to comply with this obligations ends in September and as of now we have welcomed only some 1,300 persons.
In addition to this, 1,260,000 displaced persons, who were not fleeing only from wars, sought refuge in in 2016. Of these, 15,700 asked for protection in. In that year, almost 7,000 people died in the , many of whom were minors. Instead of offering them protection in our country, 25 persons are repatriated every day. Last year more than 10 million Euros were spent to maintain the CIEs despite their demonstrated inefficacy.
Women in Black against War join hundreds of organizations and collectives to demand that the government of welcome and provide protection to the refugees. If the government does not fulfill its commitments, the citizens have the moral obligation to act.
♀ We want a that receives refugees with full guarantees and respect for their dignity and for their human rights. We ask that their legal and welfare needs be covered.
♀ We want to see established legal and safe avenues, as well as opening of humanitarian corridors, to help refugees seek asylum before leaving their country of origin in the embassies and consulates of the country where they wish to go, through a humanitarian passport or resettlement and regrouping of families. We ask that people not be sent to countries that are unsafe and that agreements with these countries concerning border control and return be suspended.
♀ We ask for urgent measures to welcome people who are especially vulnerable such as children, adolescents, women and LGBT persons. We demand actions to impede dangerous crossings or routes on which women and young girls suffer assaults, violations, humiliation, kidnapping and prostitution.
♀ We want special protection for defenders of human rights, as well as for persons who reject the use of weapons, conscientious objectors and deserters.
♀ We want an end to the commerce in armaments, so that weapons do not turn up in countries experiencing armed conflict or those in which there is clear violation of the people’s human rights.
♀ We want the government of to comply with international law and acquired obligations.
You can follow the situation of refugees in Spain at http://venidya.org/
Translation: Trisha Novak, USA – Yolanda Rouiller, WiB Spain
Pictures here