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Abdelkader sweeps the ruins of the burned factory with his broom. Sweep your little room, or try something like a room. A shack made of plywood planks, three mattresses on the floor, two rugs (one with a road drawing), two black drawers and a white dresser, a bowl with half a loaf of bread, several speakers with stripped wires, and a closet ramshackle with his clothes. Even a strip of Christmas lights to illuminate. It has three more “neighbors” in its part of “La Vaquería”, the abandoned factory that shelters 30 undocumented migrants and that this Wednesday burned in Tavernes Blanques. There were no deaths or injuries, but at times, the Badalona tragedy flew over space.
Abdelkader is only 21 years old and has been in “La Vaquería” for almost six months. He’s so cold that sometimes his whole body hurts, or so he says. “We have been warning for almost a year that this could happen,” says Mohamed Mboirick, vice president of the African Union of Spain, who since March 2020 has been alerting the authorities of this situation, but, according to regret, “they continue to pass the buck ». In fact, the greatest help it has received has been from the residents of Tavernes Blanques, who have mobilized three times to donate warm clothes, blankets, and food to migrants.
And in the end the ship burned. The city council has already assured that it cannot offer these people a housing alternative, and passes the ball to the council that, for now, continues to study possible actions. The only thing that has been quick is the eviction of the migrants by the police due to the risk of collapse, although they continue to spend the night there.
Host alternative
Although to tell the truth there is no simple solution. Mboirick, together with the València Acull association, suggested to the migrants the possibility of being welcomed in a shelter, but they refused. “The shelters are outside the area where many work in the fields or looking for scrap metal, and they also have strict entry and exit times that prevent them from starting the day in the field, which begins early in the morning or even at dawn. They also do not let them take their belongings, and only take them in temporarily and may find that they have taken their place when they leave. They cannot afford to be accommodated in shelters, they prioritize the issue of having to make a living, ”says Paco Simón, from the València Acull association.
Haji is 30 years old and from Algeria. He has barely been in the factory for two months and assures that he plans to take a train to migrate to France. He wears tracksuit pants, a sweatshirt and flip flops, and says that these days it has been very cold. He says that, beyond the police to evict them, no one has come to help them since the fire.
“What they need is a work permit to be able to earn a living and get ahead,” claims Mboirick. Simón, for his part, points out that a possible solution would be “to enable a municipal facility as a temporary reception space.”
Amine already spent a season at “La Vaquería” in 2013. She says that at least before she had a roof and less garbage. The place has been a migrant settlement for many years, but the authorities have always washed their hands.
Now he lives in “La Caldera”, another warehouse in the area, and works in the fields and whatever he has for a year and a half. He used to live in a rented apartment, but he lost it. She tells that she has been looking for a flat for six months, since with her income and that of her partner they could survive, but the prices are unattainable. “I guarantee that I can live in peace without asking anyone for help.”
“The city council should enable flats of those that banks have closed for years and dedicate them to affordable rent, at 250 or 300 euros at most. If they did, no one would live in these factories. Or do you think we want to live here?
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