Join the protest to welcome refugees in Spain

The current humanitarian crisis that is taking place in the Mediterranean Sea has been on for more than six years now. As the manifesto of the Casa Nostra, Casa Vostra (Our home is your home) campaign claims, more than 290 million people have been forced to leave their homes because of military conflicts, human right violations, climate change and poverty affecting their towns and cities. The Mediterranean Sea, rather Mare Mortum (the Death Sea), has turned into a death trap for thousands of human beings who, in their desperate struggle to escape from horror, have tried to reach the European coasts by boat. More than 32,000 people have lost their lives trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea since the year 2000.

In this migratory situation―comparable only with the mass migration caused by World War II―the European Union and the Member States have been implementing restrictive regulation. Hundreds of thousands of people are exiled in refugee camps, waiting for European countries to open their borders. In Spain, the government pledged to take in 10,772 refugees in a two-year term and yet it has failed to accept the country’s quota of migrants.

The Casa Nostra, Casa Vostra campaign: what can you do about it?

The Casa Nostra, Casa Vostra (Our home is your home) campaign is aimed at making the Catalan institutions hear people’s complaints, so that Catalonia starts the necessary actions to welcome refugees, as well as to raise awareness among population with respect to the humanitarian crisis we are witnessing. For all this, on 18 February we call on everybody to come to Plaça Urquinaona at 4 p.m. and join the mass protest to welcome refugees in Catalonia and Spain. Moreover, on 11 February the Palau Sant Jordi concert hall will be the venue for the Great Solidarity Concert in favour of the refugees, which is currently sold out, although more seats have been enabled (ES29 1491 0001 2130 0007 0485). Furthermore, everybody can sign the campaign manifesto online.

The UAB in favour of welcoming refugees

TheUniversitat Autònoma de Barcelona and theAutonomous Solidarity Foundation have signed the manifestoof the Casa Nostra, Casa Vostra campaign. In fact, this is one of the UAB’s action lines, since the UAB signed a cooperation agreement with the Catalan Committee to Aid Refugees last year. The Autonomous Solidarity Foundation is carrying out several volunteering programmes to involve the UAB in welcoming refugees.