“I’ve thought for a while that the only way to change the situation of migrants is to get involved in politics, because laws are made in Parliament,” says Boutaina El Hadri, manager of the Valencian NGO Jovesólides, which has always been involved in social movements and has lived in Valencia for more than two decades. After years on the ground, he wondered why there is so little representation of migrants in the Spanish legislature and concluded: “We are not here because we think it is difficult to get there and also because the political parties do not see us. And when they do, they perceive us as a problem rather than a solution.” Changing inertia was important and in 2019 El Hadri founded the School of Citizenship in Valencia hand in hand with two other Valencian third sector organizations to encourage migrant participation in politics and to build a young workforce Satisfied with the project, which was funded by funds from the Valencian Generalitat, the manager did some research and found no other similar initiative in Spain.
As she herself explains, El Hadri has taken part in many unification movements, rallies and demonstrations in defense of these groups and the feeling is that the situation of the migrant population has not changed, it costs a lot; Meanwhile, hate speech is on the rise. “We started the school with two goals: to form a quarry because the preparation of migrants has radically changed. There are still newcomers looking for the basics: documentation, employment, and roots; but there are others who lead normal lives and what they need is to be able to comment, decide and elect the mayor of their city,” explains this activist.
An important pillar of the school is precisely to open the doors of political parties to the needs of migrants and for this they have invited their organic positions, deputies or councilors to give lectures. The students could ask them why there are so few migrant representations in Valencia’s public institutions and how they could get access to them and their organizations. They have also sat down – all except Vox – to discuss their migration policies and have drawn up a list of 15 demands that they will present at a major public event at the end of January. In the last edition of the school, they invited politicians with an immigrant background so that the students could see that it is difficult, but not impossible, and that there are people who have dared to take the step. The school has three editions and 150 people have gone through the classroom.
In the Valencian Community, after eight years of Botànic government, there is only one migrant MP, Irene Gómez, born in Peru, from Podemos. “Political parties need to practice self-criticism, especially left-wing formations, with a more open discourse and for diversity,” he says. Politicians have promised to include the collective’s demands (including improvements in rents, employment and health) in their electoral manifestos and also to include the inclusion of migrants in candidatures for the 28-M or in government functions.
“The school has done a brutal job and I know many parties have had an internal debate on the issue and are seeing how they can move forward. 15. January [hoy domingo] The deadline for migrants whose countries of origin have agreements with Spain To and vote in local elections in May has passed. According to the Jovesólides manager, there are more than 50,000 people with NIEs in the Valencian community, but she estimates that there are around 200,000 people with a migrant background who could exercise the right to vote once naturalizations are added. “I think there are many voices and I was pleasantly surprised that parties like Podem, PSPV, Compromís or the PP started campaigns to encourage migrants to vote,” he explains. Last September they founded the Fuerza Migrante movement as a further step towards representing migrants in politics.
Rahma El Basraoui, a 52-year-old volunteer of Moroccan origin and a Spanish citizen for two years, came to study 20 years ago; She studied international law and received her doctorate in Valencia. “We strive for integration from day one. We chose to come here to live, study and work and we learn the language, interact with people and learn about a new culture. We know it’s an obligation for us, but sometimes the other party doesn’t feel the need to make an effort, to get closer and get to know us better,” he emphasizes.
What affects most is what happens closer. Subscribe so you don’t miss anything.
Subscribe to
The deputy in the Valencian Cortes for UP Irene Gómez, of Peruvian origin, in the semicircle of the podium.
Irene Gómez, Member of the Valencian Parliament for Podem since 2018, was born 59 years ago in Callao (Peru). She was a lawyer in her country but she decided to leave there at 28 and after touring Italy ended up in Barcelona, Valencia and later in Castellón, the constituency for which she ran in the regional elections. I’ve done a lot to defend migrant women and one thing led to another. As she explains herself, she is the only MP with a migration background, female and racist. “Society is not really reflected in institutions. We are not used to that in parliaments, where important decisions are made, there is this social diversity on the street,” he complains. A French student who completed his internship by supervising his work concluded that the number of parliamentary initiatives related to migration has increased significantly since he entered the autonomous parliament. “We haven’t made much progress because of the 99 MEPs that we are, there’s only me. It is necessary for the parties to include this diversity in their candidacies and a lot of pedagogy is required,” he adds.
PSPV-PSOE Deputy and Organizing Secretary José Muñoz was one of the guests of the School of Citizenship and found the experience very interesting. He is sticking out his chest because the major regularizations of immigrants happened with his party governments, including the reclaiming of the health card, but he concedes that there is a lack of greater openness on the part of the parties. Carles Esteve, a Compromís parliamentarian who knows the school, is also self-critical: “If you have such a high percentage of migrants in your society, if you don’t have a more or less similar representation in your organization, then it’s because you know not how you should interview people with complex lives. The Valencian formation “is very clear about the need for a change in reception policy” for migrants. “And we also need to look inside where we failed to get them on board.”