immigration
Irregular immigrants with families to be prioritised in Spain’s drive to legalise undocumented workers
FAMILIES with children, asylum seekers and vulnerable immigrants will be prioritised in the Spanish government’s move to legalise thousands of immigrants.
The popular legislative initiative (ILP), seemingly stalled in Congress over the last three weeks. Yet, on Tuesday, the Secretary of State for Migration, Pilar Cancela, met with several parliamentary groups to finalise the ‘extraordinary regularisation’ blueprint.
READ MORE: Spain’s parliament moves to legalise nearly half a million undocumented workers
This fine print details the general requirements immigrants must meet to be able to benefit from the law. This includes that immigrants must have been residing in Spain before March 31 this year, and have lived in Spain for at least one year before applying; have no criminal record; pose no threat to public order; and are not facing a non-return order.
Alongside these general requirements, at least one of five specific conditions must be met.
The first condition is one of ‘flexible’ employment. The immigrant must have prior employment in Spain or an offer of future employment on the table.
The second condition is that the immigrant is a parent or grandparent of children enrolled in school or dependent adults. This will then capture the children as well, who would subsequently gain residence from their parents.
A third condition captures those who are ‘particularly vulnerable,’ such as being unemployed, or working and exposed to exploitation.
The fourth condition is for those individuals who have requested international protection before March 31. The immigrant can only have one application for regularisation open.
The last condition considers asylum seekers, specifically those who have requested protection in Spain out of fear of persecution in their home countries, yet their application has been denied. These immigrants are most affected by the new immigration requirements that were enacted on May 20.
Those new regulations were meant to streamline immigration applications, but in reality, some immigration experts have argued that thousands of people, including asylum seekers, will fall outside of the law and be forced into hiding.
The definition of the profiles has been met with political resistance. The left-wing groups want the requirements to be minimal, but parties such as the PP and the Basque National Party want stricter rules, such as requiring immigrants to already have employment contracts.
More specific requirements are still to be defined, including what documentation the immigrants must submit to demonstrate they have met the regulations.
It’s hoped these talks will push the initiative forward before summer recess, but there are still questions on whether it would reach a parliamentary majority when it comes to the final vote.
Spain has previously legalised undocumented migrants through the extraordinary legal process. More than 22,000 migrants were regulated by the Government in the months following the devastating Valencia floods on October 29.
READ MORE: Spain will give work permits and residency to thousands of illegal migrants
asylum seekers
Bodies of migrants are increasingly washing up on Spain’s Balearic shores – 320 deaths estimated so far
MORE than 320 migrants have lost their lives trying to reach Spain via the Algerian Route between January and May, their bodies increasingly washing up on the shoreline of the Balearic Islands.
The Government Delegation in the Balearic Islands recorded at least 32 bodies discovered last week.
READ MORE: Spain’s population soars to 49 million following immigration surge
The Balearic Islands are one of the main destinations of the Algerian Route, the second deadliest migratory route in the world, after the Atlantic route.
“One of the most alarming factors identified along this route has been the lack of early activation of rescue resources in response to alerts, as well as the limited coordinated intervention of aerial resources to detect vessels in emergency situations in a timely manner,” Caminando Fronteras said in its recently released report, Monitoring the Right to Life on the Western Euro-African Border.
Another issue is the lack of coordination with Algerian authorities, which results in many disappearances going unrecorded; a pattern of ‘invisible mortality.’
The humanitarian organisation believes many migrant shipwrecks occur close to the coast, and more efficient maritime or air rescue intervention, could have ‘made the difference between life and death.’
“This situation raises urgent questions about why these people were not detected and searched for in a timely manner, despite the warnings received,” the report stated.
Historical data states that more than 2000 people have died or disappeared along this route over the last five years, with each year seeing an increasing number of deaths.
There has also been a shift in the profiles of those attempting to use the Algerian Route – with an increase in Somali nationals.
Caminando Fronteras said these people could be displaced from political crisis’ and internal violence from the Horn of Africa to the Maghreb region in Algeria.
Passengers pay between 2,000-4,000 euros for a place on usuall, a small, and inaquately prepared, motorboat for the crossing, according to InfoMigrants.
Caminando Fronteras said, overall, an estimated 1,865 people died trying to reach Spain via the Western Euro-African border in the first five months of the year. This included 342 children.
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