A humanitarian bridge between Barcelona and Ukraine: A new instance for “Ciutat Refugi”

Summary

Barcelona has a long experience of welcoming and integrating new arrivals and facilitates access to municipal services and programmes for all people arriving in the city, regardless of their legal status. Barcelona City Council does not have powers in the field of asylum, but since 1989 the Immigrant, Emigrant and Refugee Care Service (SAIER), which is managed by the city council with some social organisations, has been providing support and advice to refugees, taking care of their basic needs and attending to the most vulnerable cases until they are able to access the state reception programme. In September 2015, the City Council launched the plan "Barcelona, ciutat refugi", with the aim of preparing the city to welcome, assist, provide the necessary services and guarantee the rights of refugees.

The main objectives of this plan were:

1. To set up a comprehensive operational and strategic plan for reception in the city.

2. To create a stable and permanent support structure for refugees and asylum seekers, complementary to state programmes, with its own criteria and in collaboration with entities, public administrations and citizens.

3. Pay special attention to those asylum seekers who are left out of the state social support programme and to those who suffer any kind of discrimination.

4. Create a city-to-city cooperation plan aimed at municipalities with a high density of refugees and migrants.

5. To use the international networks of cities and the prestige of Barcelona to make a political impact on the State and the European Union and to demand the fulfilment of international commitments on refuge.

To welcome the new influx of refugees following the conflict in Ukraine (Phase "Barcelona amb Ucraïna"), the website "Barcelona, ciutat refugi", added the following elements:

1. a compilation of social entities and NGOs responding on the ground to the humanitarian crisis, for people who want to make donations.

2. A list of organisations that carry out campaigns to donate materials, medicines and clothes in coordination with the Ukrainian authorities.

3. The procedure for taking in refugees, both children and adults.

4. Information on how to become a volunteer.        

Lessons learnt

The war in Ukraine has generated numerous expressions of solidarity from the people of Barcelona who want to help people who are trapped in this armed conflict and also those seeking refuge. Various initiatives have sprung up over the last few days, either by making financial contributions to NGOs working on the ground, by collaborating with material collection campaigns in different parts of the city or by volunteering to accompany the refugees once they arrive in Barcelona. Barcelona City Council is organising various initiatives to meet the needs of displaced people arriving in our city and of the population suffering from the war in Ukraine and its borders. The Directorate of Global Justice and International Cooperation is calling on organisations with expertise in humanitarian action and emergencies, which have been previously accredited, to present their projects for intervention in Ukraine and grant applications. In view of the public's desire to offer support to the population affected by the conflict in Ukraine, Barcelona City Council, in accordance with the criteria of most international organisations, considers that the most effective way of channelling aid is to make financial contributions to organisations already working on the ground.