Plan Fuenlabrada: City of Peace

Summary

Fuenlabrada is a city of 200,000 inhabitants with prior experience in welcoming refugees and migrants and having made significant efforts towards inclusion policies. These efforts comprise of the development of intercultural and transversal integration projects, promoting the associations that best represent migrants, to motivate their active civic participation, an EU-funded project called MILMA aimed at enhancing access to employment for nationals and migrants and their participation in Anti-Rumours Network tackling racism and xenophobia.

Before the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Fuenlabrada had 810 migrant persons residing in the municipality. The government quickly understood that it should prepare for the reception of people escaping the war and drew up a reception and inclusion plan.

The Fuenlabrada: City of Peace Plan has two stages. The first is the reception stage, where services such as registration, schooling, health care, psychological support, language learning, legal advice and attention to gender violence are provided. In the second stage, inclusion, the municipality assists with employment and training, access to sports and culture, and functional diversity services. The plan also connects with families who wish to volunteer as a foster home through the La Caixa Foundation, and with the Spanish State's temporary protection information services. The migrants who are residing in the community, including a few Ukrainian migrants, also volunteered to assist the newcomers arriving from Ukraine and this mobilisation supported the local efforts immensely.

Impact

• More than 100 Ukrainian people have been welcomed.
• 50 adults are learning Spanish
• 3 Spanish language groups for young people have been created
• 25 Ukrainian volunteers are hosting the newly arrived displaced families
• 4 psychological support groups have been created