Spain To Double Amount For Spanish Red Cross Internment Centers For Foreign Citizens

Source: By Eurasia Review, 18/09/2015

Spain`s Ministry for Home Affairs will give 823,500 euros to the
Spanish Red Cross in 2016 – twice the amount provided in 2015 – for
the development of social and humanitarian care programs at Internment
Centers for Foreign Nationals, which will enable this institution to
expand the services it provides to the Internment Centers for Foreign
Nationals in Valencia, Murcia and Algeciras, as well as those in
Madrid and Barcelona.


This measure by the Spanish Ministry for Home Affairs, which will be
launched next year, forms part of the initiatives adopted by this
ministerial department that also include an agreement signed on
Thursday by the Minister for Home Affairs, Jorge Fernández Díaz, and
the President of the Spanish Red Cross, Javier Senent, to also provide
social and humanitarian assistance at the Internment Centers for
Foreign Nationals in Madrid and Barcelona. The financial aid to be
provided under the agreement amounts to 400,000 in 2015.


An agreement was signed at the headquarters of the Ministry for Home
Affairs that observes the rights of those people admitted to the
Internment Centers for Foreign Nationals to receive social and
humanitarian assistance, both from the services provided by the centre
itself (managed under the Ministry for Home Affairs) and from the
public or private, governmental or non-governmental, national or
international immigrant protection organizations.


The following actions will be funded with the 400,000 euros being
given to the Spanish Red Cross by the government:


• Support for all those admitted, especially language interpretation,
relations with family members overseas and the processing of
documents


• Liaison between families in Spain and the countries of origin
• Social mediation, fostering dialogue and mutual understanding
between those admitted and the authorities to prevent or reduce
possible conflicts


• Provision of information on the requirements for requesting
international protection, as appropriate
• Acting as a partner on efforts to plan and develop all sorts of
activities at the centers


According to the Spanish government, besides demonstrating the
commitment from the Ministry for Home Affairs to the people admitted
to the Internment Centers for Foreign Nationals, this agreement seeks
to provide an urgent, suitable and effective response to the growing
needs from the people admitted to these centers.


Of the 400,000 euros being given for 2015, 188,000 euros have been
allocated to the Internment Center for Foreign Nationals in Madrid.
The same amount has been allocated to the Internment Center for
Foreign Nationals in Barcelona and 24,000 euros have been allocated to
oversight activities.


An oversight committee will be set up to supervise this agreement on
the provision of social and humanitarian assistance at Internment
Centers for Foreign Nationals. It will be equally formed by two
representatives from each one of the signatories and will meet on a
regular basis to review progress, resolve potential difficulties and,
in general, propose and agree – as appropriate – any measures capable
of ensuring the best possible development of the activities defined in
the agreement to meet the corresponding objectives.


The agreement highlights that the admittance of foreign citizens to
the Internment Centers for Foreign Nationals, which are not
penitentiary in nature, must always take place in an orderly fashion
and under judicial control. Their function and purpose is to guarantee
the effective nature of both the processing and implementation of
expulsion and return measures that may be applied to those admitted,
considering the admittance thereof throughout their time at the center
as an interim or provisional measure.