Like every morning for five months, Harouna Conte, a 22-year-old Guinean, calls 91 322 01 89 in the hope that his future will finally become clearer. The reaction was the same as always: no one answers the phone. Only when you hear a voice on the other end of the line will you receive the necessary appointment to start your asylum procedure. His case is that of hundreds of people across Spain. This Tuesday, more than a hundred affected people and twenty NGOs filed a joint complaint with the Ombudsman to denounce the situation. The lack of appointments, they warn, “denies migrants access to fundamental rights” and results in Spain failing to “comply with European legislation” on asylum.
There have never been so many asylum seekers in Spain, but at the same time it is becoming increasingly complicated to start a procedure that requires a mandatory prior appointment. Appointments were made online until May 2023, but the system was vulnerable to attacks by hackers who hoarded appointments and then sold them for up to 200 euros. And they got paid because it was the only way to reach them. Police eventually arrested the suspected hacker who allegedly controlled a group of appointment-controlling bots, but the problem persisted and the ability to request them online ended. To solve the problem of cyber attacks, the police unilaterally decided to allow police stations to choose their own way of processing requests. Emails and phone numbers were offered, but the lack of staff to handle the flood of requests made access even more complicated, according to NGOs. This solution was theoretically temporary, but there is no sign that a new alternative is on the horizon.
Police sources recognize the problem but argue that it is out of their hands to find a solution, which would consist of creating a computer system that can offer appointments on the Internet but also stop hackers. The Interior Ministry points out that the Asylum and Refugee Office has increased its number of employees fivefold (from 60 to 300) to strengthen the workforce and cope with the increase in requests. Internally, it is clear that this increase in staff has no impact on the subject of the complaints lodged this Tuesday, that is, on access to the procedure, nor on the interviews that the applicants will have to carry out later, but that they are officials who are the Investigating the procedure will dedicate files once your request has been formalized.
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Despite access difficulties, Spain broke the record in 2023 with 163,218 registered applications. Given the complaints that have been ongoing for months, this number does not reflect the number of people who want to apply for asylum today. The problem worries UNHCR. The UN refugee agency welcomes that more resources have been committed to addressing access issues in recent years, but warns that efforts are “inadequate”. And adds: “It is important that those who wish to apply for asylum in Spain can exercise this right within reasonable time limits. The situation of delays puts many people in a precarious position.”
A group of migrants protest in front of the Ombudsman's headquarters. Alvaro Garcia
A group of migrants enters the headquarters of the Ombudsman in Madrid.Álvaro García
Three migrants, along with the documents presented this Tuesday to the Ombudsman Álvaro García
A group of migrants in front of the Ombudsman headquarters. Alvaro Garcia
The migrants are in the process of officially presenting their complaints to the ombudsman. Alvaro Garcia
Neighborhood associations, very present during the protest.Álvaro García
On the left Javier Baeza, priest, together with Blanca Aller, representative of Alcalá Acoge (center), and María G from Sercade (right) and some of the migrants. Alvaro Garcia
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The vulnerability highlighted by UNHCR is closely linked to the irregular situation in which those who want to apply for asylum and are unable to do so are left behind. For example, a Malian fleeing war lands in Spain via Cayuco to live in a safe place, and although his nationality is one of the countries with the highest recognition rate, he will face numerous obstacles – language being one of them – to agree Make an appointment and complete your process. Without the possibility of starting the procedure, they are considered immigrants in an irregular situation, without work rights, with difficulties in accessing health care, depending on the autonomous community in which they live and with problems renting an apartment. Additionally, you will not be able to open a bank account or enroll in a variety of training opportunities. If you had easier access to the procedure, you would be guaranteed minimum rights until your application is decided and you would be able to work after, for example, six months.
Hundreds of people who have arrived in the Canary Islands in recent months are experiencing a similar situation. For example, at the demonstration this Tuesday there were many residents of the military camp set up in Alcalá de Henares to accommodate 1,700 people, including minors. None of them have been able to apply for asylum so far, which is why they have no opportunity to leave a reception center where they say the conditions are “very harsh”. Some of them spoke to EL PAÍS to report on their situation.
Harouna Conte, a 22-year-old Guinean, submits his complaint to the Ombudsman. Alvaro Garcia
Harouna Conte, a 22-year-old Guinean, has experienced it all at his young age. At just seven years old, he witnessed his family being murdered by the army during the protests on September 27, 2009 in Conakry. 157 people lost their lives because they demonstrated against the military junta that ruled the country. After miraculously escaping alive, he was adopted by another family who cared for him until he was 18. Then his adoptive father taught him to drive and took him to Morocco to find work, but he ended up in semi-slave conditions on a tomato plantation, where he stayed for a few years. He says he is afraid to return to his country because he knows of several cases of persecution of people who, like him, witnessed the events of 2009. He arrived in the Canary Islands on a boat in November along with 54 other migrants and has been in limbo in the CAED of Alcalá de Henares since December. His goal: to put into practice what he learned from his adoptive father and become a bus driver in Madrid.
The 33-year-old Senegalese Abdou Khadar during the protest this Tuesday. Alvaro Garcia
When Abdou Khadar, 33, is asked about the story that led him to leave his country in Senegal, he realizes that this is the case a climate displaced person. He was a fisherman in Saint-Louis, northwest of Senegal, until the encroaching sea finally swallowed his house. The local population protested against the situation and demanded that the Senegalese government move them to another place where they could live, but the reaction was always the same: repression. He was eventually charged by authorities for his protests and fled the country for fear of reprisals. He explains that sea level rise has become increasingly noticeable in recent years, but that this is not his only problem. “More and more international boats came to fish in exchange for money with the permission of the Senegalese government, but the victims were the local population, who found it increasingly difficult to find fish.” The lack of response from the Spanish government worries him. His only goal is to “work on something.” Everything except one thing: “I would rather not be a fisherman again,” he says.
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