Elma Saiz visits the Carabanchel Care, Emergency and Referral Centre for World Refugee Day

The Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, during her visit to the Care, Emergency and Referral Centre (CAED)

This CAED currently has around 1,900 places for migrants who have recently arrived in Spain in a situation of maximum vulnerability and potential applicants for international protection. In recent months, Mali has been the country of origin of most of these people, as a result of the worsening civil conflict in the Central African country.

"When we protect, when we welcome, when we integrate, what we are doing is defending the values that define us as a society: solidarity, dignity and human rights," said Elma Saiz during her visit, during which she was accompanied by Amapola Blasco, Director General of Humanitarian Attention and the International Protection Reception System, and Pilar Roy, National Vice-President of the Red Cross and Regional President of the Red Cross in the Community of Madrid, as well as by those responsible for the centre. "Spain makes a difference in the respect for human rights and this centre is a very clear example. People must be at the centre of migration policy."

The Emergency Reception and Referral Centres, such as the one in Carabanchel, receive people seeking international protection and also those who are part of the humanitarian care programme aimed at assisting people in a situation of vulnerability who arrive in Spanish territory via the coast or by crossing the land border of Ceuta and Melilla. These are open centres where initial humanitarian care and initial training in basic skills such as the Spanish language are provided. Training is also promoted in other areas focused on their integration into the labour market. The average stay in these resources is three months.

From there, if they need it, after several interviews and a study of their needs, vulnerabilities and family networks, they are transferred to the most appropriate resources for each particular case with the aim of facilitating their inclusion.

"Respect for human rights marks our migration policy, it cannot be any other way," said Minister Saiz, who acknowledged the complex work of the ministry and Red Cross workers with the residents. "A lot of people who know neither timetables nor holidays are permanently on duty to provide psychological or educational care to people arriving in our country; they carry out a task that goes beyond work."

Saiz also held a meeting with several of the centre's residents and with people who regularly collaborate with CAED and its surroundings, such as María Isabel Maroto and Pedro Casas, from the Carabanchel Neighbourhood Association, Amanda Fernández and Celia Padrón, FEDELE Spanish teachers who work with the centre's residents, Cristina Veintimilla, a doctor from the Gregorio Marañón Hospital who provides support to CAED, and Luís Haro, from the Santiago Constructores Training Entity.

"I have deep respect for these people who are willing to risk everything for a future in our country. Also for those of you who help them every day. The ecosystem in which the centre operates, the neighbours, the post office, the police station... together you all make this project a benchmark and show that coexistence is possible and beneficial for everyone."

"Meeting the residents of the centre, looking into their eyes and listening to their story is extremely enriching and gives meaning to what we do and to our migration policy," the minister acknowledged.

International protection reception system

The international protection reception system is made up of a set of resources (including CAEDs), actions and services that aim to ensure that the basic needs of newly arrived migrants are met in conditions of dignity. It is a flexible system, which has been adapted to the situation and needs of each moment. It now has more than 34,000 places, a figure that is the result of an 18-fold increase from fewer than 2,000 places a decade ago.

Access to the reception system is open to beneficiaries and applicants for international protection, statelessness or temporary protection status, provided that they lack sufficient financial resources.

The international protection reception system must be differentiated from the humanitarian care programme, which is aimed at attending to people in a situation of vulnerability who arrive on Spanish territory. This programme provides emergency socio-health care, emergency shelter and the supply of materials to cover basic needs to these people who can then apply for international protection and access, where appropriate, the international protection reception system.

And after CAED? Phases of the reception system

Among others, the reception system provides food and accommodation services, social, psychological, legal and cultural support and accompaniment, interpretation, language teaching and translation services, employment and vocational guidance, and support in the processing of public aid. The services and actions are aimed at guaranteeing a minimum of dignity and favouring integration and autonomy in Spain.

The intervention with the beneficiaries is carried out through a reception itinerary that is developed in three phases: initial assessment and referral, reception and autonomy. The average stay in a Care, Emergency and Referral Centre is about three months, after which, following a study of needs, vulnerabilities and family networks, the person in need is transferred to a more appropriate resource for each particular case with the aim of facilitating their inclusion.

In this second phase, called the reception phase, the beneficiaries are admitted to the reception resources, both those managed by the authorised entities and those of state public ownership (CAPI), which are most appropriate to the individual or family unit's needs. During this phase, individualised itineraries aimed at integration and the acquisition of autonomy are designed and developed, thanks to the multidisciplinary teams that guarantee comprehensive care within the reception system.

The final phase - autonomy - takes place outside the system's own reception resources, the objective of which is to ensure that the beneficiaries of international, temporary or stateless protection receive the necessary support for the consolidation of the skills and knowledge acquired throughout the reception itinerary, aimed at full inclusion in the host society.

In all these phases, specialised attention is guaranteed to the people targeted, especially to those in vulnerable situations, and the intervention is based on an intersectional and gender approach.

Non official translation