Living
The Dream:
A reality check for migrant minors to Spain
Navigate the journey
Introduction | Goodbye Mali | Hello Spain | Reality
BARCELONA—
BARCELONA— When it was all done—€40 million, 4,000 km, and four countries later—Hasan Oumar finally made it to his new home, Barcelona. He can finally rest in the assurance of his new country. It's the place that vowed to supply him with all the essentials of living at the very least. At most, a new chance at life.
In 2017 Spain signed a deal with the United Nations to invite more than 17 thousand immigrants to the Mediterranean country in trade for more than €40 million; however, the amount was not a reward. The initial intentions were to finance all aid to the immigrants the next year, for they aren’t just any ordinary newcomers. Many are unaccompanied minors who left their family and friends in native lands in hopes of improving their current and future living conditions.
Theoretically, Spain’s role was to swoop in like a fairy tale and give the young ones an opportunity at a happy ending, or what more privileged individuals would recognize as basic human rights. In the government’s aid program set in place, it promised Spanish residency, shelter, and an education.
By accepting the foreign children, the government was to provide a safe asylum. Like Oumar, most of the children came from North African countries such as Algeria, Guinea, Mali but mostly Morocco. In 2017, 18% of them were under 18 years old. Of those, 60% traveled alone.
But Oumar’s coming of age story didn’t have the “happy ever after” ending as originally imagined. Now, months into his new life as a Spanish resident, the brutal reality of the dream he expected is full of empty promises. The increased aid funding already made it to the hands of the Spanish government, yet in many ways, the actual aid still has yet to follow.
Goodbye Mali:
Let the journey begin
Mali’s normally heated sunny summer evenings felt different to Oumar this night. Sitting on the rocky, dirt pavement, he reminisced and relived the 15 years in the only country he’s ever experienced. It was a life of extreme poverty; a life of extreme exposure to violence, a life in the middle of a "war zone”.
He was two years too young to enlist in the Malian army, yet was already so familiar with danger. But tomorrow would be a new day with new challenges. It would be the day he says goodbye to Mali, and everyone inside it, including his own family.
“My sister is living with my mom. She stayed there,” Oumar said. “She won’t stay there [in his neighborhood in Mali] forever. She will have to get married soon, and will be with a family that can support her.”
Saying goodbye was only the first step in a field of obstacles he went through on his journey here. Of course he already knew the trip wouldn’t be easy, but Oumar said what he expected versus what he actually experienced was something he didn’t prepare for.
Although he started the trip alone, he met others on a refuge journey that took them from Mali, to Algeria, to Morocco until he finally reached the Spanish border portal facilities.
He said his experience “of course” could have been a lot better, but compared to others it definitely could’ve been worse.
“I’m just thankful that I didn’t have it as bad as some of them [other immigrants]” he said. “I made it to the border okay. I made it all the way here to Barcelona, and my health is still okay.”
Although he rarely had food and water regularly during his trip, these resources were the least of his concerns while he reflected on his experience and the others’.
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In 2018 the Mediterranean Sea route Oumar took was named one of the most dangerous in the world. Theses asylum seekers were fleeing their native countries in hopes of international protection, but making the quest to get it was a risky one.
The number of deaths along the route rose from one in 72 in 2016 to one in 52 in 2018. There’s a lack of security to accompany the travelers. Without protection, 60% of immigrants along the route experience physical abuse at least once.
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“We’ve had some guys come in who were repeatedly mistreated, so wrong,” said Jenifer Rodriquez, a mentor who works with local NGOs such as “Refugees Welcome” that support the children. “They have to witness physical abuse, sexual abuse, forced labor, starved… they’re still kids you know? It’s just sad."
Many are betrayed by their transporter and abandoned near the border of countries like morocco where they are kept are sent back home. If that wasn’t bad enough, Rodriquez said one of the most dangerous opponent is the law enforcement themselves along the borders.
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In 2018 a Spain’s government election took place and immigration was a major component in the campaign. Many groups urged for stricter regulations, while few like “Podemos” fought in support of accepting more immigrants and proving asylum.
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In the same year, more than half of asylum seeking applications coasted on “pending” status as public administration duties were being directly effected by the latest direction of Spanish politics.
Hello Spain:
Adjusting to a new life
"I’ve seen a lot of cases of the staff mistreating the boys."
-Jenifer Rodriguez
"No one else can speak up for them. That’s where I come in."
-Jenifer Rodriguez
Thanks to mentors like Rodriguez, Oumar can go on group outings like trips downtown or to the mall. When the field trip ends, she drops them off again at their overpacked, overcrowded shelters. Cots, mattresses, and a place to put them are the hardest to come by in public facilities across all of Spain.
Before she started her current full-time job, she was a regular mentor at Alberg Barcelona Xanascat, a government-owned public hostel that also doubles as a shelter for unaccompanied minors. While of course, the migrant children stay for free, the state still collects a competitive rate for all other reservations. Guest can select rooms with up to eight beds in them while sharing the other parts of the campus with the refugees. No more than 30 of them stay there for a span of up to 6 months before being transferred to a different shelter, already overflowing with other immigrants.
Of the initial €40 million that Spain received to finance the aid, a portion was allocated to social integration… well it was supposed to be. Not only were they to receive a public Spanish education, but they were to learn outside of school as well to help them adapt to their new community.
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How to speak Spanish should be the first lesson, since a majority of the students speak Arabic and sometimes French. An even smaller portion speaks some English, and almost none speak Spanish.
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On the other hand, the languages Spaniards commonly speak beyond their native tongue are Catalan and English. The barrier in communication is unavoidable when most centers lack sufficient translators to accommodate.
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“There’s definitely a lot of disparity in communicating between the children and guardians,” Rodriquez said. “I’ve seen a lot of cases of the staff mistreating the boys. Well, nothing happens and it’s not because they didn’t report it. They tried. No one else can speak up for them. That’s where I come in.”
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In her time spent working with the children, she’s experienced or a colleague experiences almost 10 runaway cases. In 2018 there were more than 800 in Spain overall.
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Most are teenage boys, but even the ones who are approaching 18 are still unaccompanied minors. They’re being accounted for in the record of underaged immigrants that the Spanish government has legal guardianship and responsibility for, and receive financial support for.
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They go out for a field trip or night out on the weekend and don’t return to their assigned shelters. Instead, they join other refugees already over 18 living in squatter house around the city center.
Reality Check:
A minor setback
Last year in August, Barcelona’s highest tourist month, major news organizations such as BBC and the Guardian released articles warning tourists of a “dangerous surge in violent crimes” in Barcelona’s city center. It only came after many young Moroccan refugees began to regularly make local news as the culprit in crimes. What started as non-violent pickpocketing evolved to robbery with a weapon, and later to a pattern of rape cases.
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Despite who’s responsible for looking after them, locals make sure the boys feel consequences, but most times it’s not the one who’s guilty. In 2018, 90% of all actively registered migrant minors around Spain had a clean criminal record.
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Without seeing the crime take place to catch the criminal in the moment, the Barcelona police often times have difficulty identifying and tracking down where the real criminal is. It's no surprise since one without a home is also without an address.
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I went to the fourth-largest police commissary in Barcelona and requested to report a robbery with assault. Even with a detailed description of the incident and crime, the officer said the list of suspects could take hours to go through. This list held all of the repeated offenders in the area of similar crimes just in the past several weeks alone.
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Civilians aren’t leaving it up to law enforcement to punish the criminals. Each of the refugees feels the backlash from the new wave of discrimination it brought. The surge in crime concentrated in the city center makes it all the harder for NGOs like La Fundación para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Diálogo Exterior (FRIDE) to positively sway the public support.
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“They [law enforcements] need to give stronger punishments when they catch those guys, because when they do, they keep them a couple days and then they are out.” David Calvet, a Barcelona native who works in hotels in the city center. He had experience in different hotels including Hotel Catalonia, but even in his different positions, the city center had been his “office” for the past three years and seeing the way of the new standard.
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For the innocent, they do still have some on their side…
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“I do it for the boys like Oumar who really just wants to live a happy teenage life. That’s all. He didn’t ask for more. Pobrecito [poor thing],” Rodriguez said.
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Apart from volunteers and mentors like Rodriguez, major NGO’s like the Comisión Española de Ayuda al Refugiada [CEA{R}] have already submitted an executive proposal to improve protection for refugees. It’s aimed at improving government employees whose job is to help Oumar at some point in his journey.
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While financial assistance is necessary, Spain has already unsuccessfully attempted a monetary solution, but it’s clear this problem is rooted deeper than that. The 40 million euros does not cover the cost of a happy ending… At least for Oumar it doesn’t. Still, he said for him it was worth it, but for many, it's not.
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What could be done to improve the conditions of unaccompanied
migrant minors in Barcelona?
What should be done about the crime in the city center?
Helpful links:
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