Purpose:
Reception is a fundamental stage in working towards more inclusive and cohesive societies in which people arriving from other countries can obtain the information, knowledge and skills necessary to develop autonomously and with equal opportunities.
Stimulus/Rationale:
Reception is understood as the first phase of the integration and inclusion process. Reception initiatives can start before or upon arrival and should continue until the individual is sufficiently empowered to actively participate in the socio-economic life of their new society.
In the case of Catalonia, Law 10/2010 of 7 May 2010 and the subsequent regulatory deployment with Decree 150/2014 of 18 November 2014 on reception services for immigrants and returnees in Catalonia have made it possible to have a unified legal framework on reception services.
Sabadell considers that it is essential to work towards coexistence and inclusion from day one, and to contemplate reception not only as a set of basic services for new arrivals, but as a richer and more complex process that involves in one way or another different municipal areas, different institutions and the whole society.
Process:
In January 2016, the Programme reformulated the municipal municipal first reception service to adapt it to the requirements set out in Decree 150/2014 on reception services for immigrants and those returned to Catalonia. This model is still in force today.
In Sabadell there are 12 registered entities related to the reception of new arrivals.
The city of Sabadell has several welcoming policy initiatives displayed:
- The first reception service is offered in coordination with the grass-root organisations that run specific programmes on reception, such as CEAR, SCAI, Caritas and Apip-Acam, among others. The service includes a comprehensive package of information on how to enrol in the municipal register (Padrón), monthly sessions about the different services offered by the council, language training, workshops about how to access the labour market and insights to better understand the host society. The welcome sessions are held in five different spaces in the city to cover the whole territory and have a translation service. General information is provided in Catalan and Spanish, but the Council also has welcoming material in English, French, Arabic, Chinese and Rumanian. Specific programmes are implemented for particular groups, namely women and youth. Other services to residents with a migrant background include voluntary return, family reunification and nationality procedures.The first reception service, with more than a decade of experience, has a structural and strategic character, and is a tool to help people with special needs, and is a key tool for bringing the local administration closer to new arrivals.
- The Tenderol programme is coordinated by the Catalan Commission for Refugees with the support of the City Council since 2018. It arises from the need to respond to people who have been denied their application for international protection or who have remained outside the State programme. But also, to people who, having completed the State programme do not have yet full autonomy. In these situations, where there is a risk of social exclusion, interdisciplinary intervention teams are required, and the municipalities are the closest administration managing the needs of the people who live there. The programme can include up to 10 people, for a maximum duration of one year (6 months, renewable for 3 months more, and 3 final months). The plan involves the basic needs (housing, food, health, child education, etc) as well as a personalised work plan including training and job orientation. The main aim is to increase the participants’ autonomy. Since 2017, 106 people have benefited from the programme.
- The city also organises a recognition ceremony for newcomers in which political representatives are represented (including the Mayor). The ceremony usually forms part of the commemoration of International Human Rights Day. It aims to highlight the commitment of these people and their perseverance and motivation to take part in the life of the city, as well as to recognise the work of the organisations that, together with the City Council, make the programmes possible. The event takes place in the Principal Theatre and those who have participated in the workshops and training under the framework of the Reception Path receive a diploma.
Welcoming refugees
In 2020, the City Council of Sabadell stated that it is a city committed to its citizenship, which aspires to make real dignity and quality of life for all without distinction as to ethnicity, age, gender, origin, sexual diversity, belief or functional diversity.
Under the moto ‘Sabadell, Refuge City’, Sabadell welcomes newcomers from the value of hospitality, who are actively involved in favour of equality between women and men and against all types of violence, who work in favour of personal autonomy and freedom, who are committed to the emancipation of young people and who, through love, respect and austerity, believe that diversity and interaction are the basis of coexistence.
The City Council works to defend the right to asylum and refugees in the following areas: international cooperation, advocacy, awareness raising, reception, observation of local Media.
Sabadell also supports the Refugees Welcome organisation in its project aimed at putting refugees in contact with people from Sabadell who want to share their home in conditions of equality and mutual respect. It also offers local citizens other possibilities of collaboration through volunteering. In the case of people interested in sharing their home, it is necessary to have a free furnished room and agree on a minimum coexistence of 6 months with the refugee, agreeing on a social rent. With its project, this non-profit organisation, with presence in 14 countries, wants to go one step further in the involvement of citizenship in the reception of displaced people.
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