• Marchers in dozens of cities call on Spain’s gov’t to accept more refugees
• NGOs present 11 urgent points to speed refugee resettlement, asylum cases
Thousands marched in cities and towns across Madrid Monday to demand greater action from the Spanish government in the resettlement of refugees from Syria, Iraq and other war-torn countries as part of Spain’s commitment under an agreement reached in 2015 with the European Union and under its international treaty obligations.
Demanding speedier processing of refugees temporarily sheltered in camps in Greece and Italy and their resettlement in communities that have pledged to receive them, Spanish labour unions, political parties and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working with refugee resettlement turned out thousands of their members and supporters in Madrid (see video below) and dozens of other cities across the country, including Bilbao, Cádiz, Castellón, Córdoba, Girona, Logroño, Málaga, Salamanca, Sevilla y Zaragoza. A similar march was held in Barcelona and other cities on Sunday.
In Madrid, leaders of 15 Spanish NGOs delivering humanitarian aid and working in refugee rescue and resettlement gathered in front of the Congress of Deputies Monday to present a list of “11 urgent and realisable measures” that they say need to be enacted immediately in Spain and at the European level to protect the women and children who are most vulnerable among the refugees, streamline the asylum application process and guarantee refugees’ basic human rights and effectively manage the flow of refugees into Europe.
► Read More in Spanish at El País and El Mundo …
► Read More in English at Spanish News Today …
► ► CLICK ABOVE TO WATCH VIDEO OF MADRID MARCH ► ►
