• Of 586 refugees slated for arrival by end-June, just 303 have been resettled
• Refugees provided housing, legal aid, counseling, Spanish lessons, education
Just slightly more than half the 586 refugees the government said would be resettled in Spain by end-June have arrived to date, a situation the Spanish Interior Ministry blamed largely on slow logistics of moving the refugees from camps in Italy, Greece, Lebanon and Turkey.
As of last week, only 303 of the 586 refugees the government said were set to arrive as part of its 2015 pledge to resettle some 17,000 refugees from war-torn Syria, Iraq and other countries, had actually been relocated to Spain. According to the Interior Ministry, delays related to police background checks for possible links to terrorist groups, as well as the desire to resettle families together whenever possible, have contributed to the slowness of processing.
Of the 303 refugees who had arrived by end-June, the government says 233 were Syrians, 39 were Eritreans, 32 were from Iraq and 1 was from the Central African Republic. Prior to integration into Spanish society, the refugees are first sheltered under a six-month trial period durin which they receive free room and board provided by non-governmental organisations, as well as legal advice, psychological counseling, Spanish lessons and education for the children.
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