(ANS - Barcelona) - "We cannot act alone, with everyone acting on their own personal initiative. (...) These are not short term situations and we have to face many legal issues - health, documentation, education and, above all, work – issues that are beyond what we can do. However, we can help to integrate and to take care of some aspects". So say the FMA sisters in Barcelona, in reference to assisting refugees and migrants.

In all areas of the Province the sisters are in contact with local authorities, Church bodies, Caritas, the Spanish Conference of Religious, and so on. The FMA have offered their educational facilities to accommodate children, young people and women in need. They have already had several meetings with these organizations to coordinate efforts.

For example, the Sisters have offered twelve beds in their house in Montbau, in Catalonia.  This is where the "La llavor" project is run in conjunction with the ARED Foundation, but this new initiative will not affect the services already offered to the current guests of the centre.

Similarly, with some conditions, the Sisters have made their house available to the Orrius Municipality for training meetings and shelter for small groups, so that it can accommodate families needing hospitality.

"The problem is not just to give emergency shelter for a few days, but to ensure the legal rights of migrants.  There is good legislation for refugees seeking asylum, but it is a different story for migrants. For them the laws are less clear and they are being expelled from the country", according to the FMA.

At present the Sisters are focusing their work primarily on immigrants who are in poor condition because of the difficulty of finding a job that allows them to regularize their status and meet their needs. To meet this need, the Sisters are offering training and scholarships and collaborating with other institutions.

Published 04/11/2015