By Maria Gonzalez Amarillo
After 4+ years of war in Syria and the recent resettlement plan put forward by the European Commission, more than 120,000 people will be relocated throughout the continent. La Prensa San Diego spoke in Spain with Angela Nzambi, Volunteer Manager at the Spanish Refugee Aid Commission in Valencia, to learn more about the organization’s operations and their management of this current crisis.
“Our mission is to advocate for the right to asylum and refugees, including vulnerable immigrants in need of international protection. As is to be expected, Syria has now become one of the countries with the highest political asylum applications”, shared Ms. Nzambi.
The Spanish Refugee Aid Commission, or CEAR, was started in 1979 to address international refugee needs, and has been working for over 30 years as a non-profit in support of “the values of justice, solidarity, equality, and a commitment to ethics”.
“The displacement is caused by several different drivers, not just armed conflict. There are people who flee persecution race, ideology, religion, or sexual orientation. In short, the reasons stated in the Geneva Convention”, stated the Volunteer Manager.
CEAR has 11 offices throughout Spain in the cities of Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Malaga, Cullera, Bilbao, and Las Palmas in the Grand Canaries. Their volunteer force is about 450 people, with a permanent workforce of about 150 employees.
“Everyone who is fleeing is psychologically vulnerable, which we address by offering services in different areas: psychosocial work, with psychologists and social workers; legal aid, with attorneys; and training & employment, with teachers and labor experts”, Ms. Nzambi indicated.
“The idea is to provide integrated services, from psychological care to social work, and including legal aid throughout the asylum application process until it is approved. Meanwhile, we create training schedules and help them actively seek employment and learn the language”, she added.
While the Commission cannot influence political asylum applications since the final decision as to whether or not to grant asylum is made by the Spanish government, it does provide legal assistance to the refugees, both during the application process and with whatever procedures they might need to go through to have their right to asylum recognized.
“We assist refugees during a period of six months to a year, with certain exceptions. The law takes into account whether they are single, have a family, are disabled, etc. Then, based on their need, they are referred to other resources”, Angela expressed, stressing that the only requirement to receive services is “to be a refugee”.
CEAR is funded through a federal government grant, together with community grants, local government grants, as well as programs and projects the organization prepares and donations from individuals and businesses who want to help the cause.
“I believe that we will be able to receive them, Europe has enough resources. There needs to be more legal means for refugees to request international protection at the consulates and embassies, as the possibilities are currently very limited”, she stated.
“One of our proposals is to look into the causes of armed conflicts that lead to forced migrations throughout the world: what is happening in those countries, who is involved in the conflicts, who is benefitting from the war”, she said. “We all can collaborate, this is everyone’s responsibility”.
For more information, please visit their website at www.cear.es.