Views from the City: Immigrant Protests Against The Spanish Government's Proposed Reforms of the LO 4/2000 Modified by the LO 8/2000

As I mentioned briefly late last year, I am currently a volunteer with the Comisión Española al Ayuda al Refugiado (CEAR), one of the most important pro immigrant, pro refugee NGOs in Spain. The NGO, which was founded in 1979 with the purpose of providing individuals seeking assistance with their solicitations for asylum and refugee status and promoting their rights in Spain and abroad, has grown into a multi-service non profit with offices throughout Spain that promotes these goals and causes in two major ways.

First, the Commission provides direct legal, social/psychological, and professional development assistance for individuals seeking these legal statuses (e.g helping these individuals process applications for these legal statuses, evade expulsion at Madrid's airport, receive psychological treatment, and participate in professional development classes to assist with the job search in Spain). In other words, the organization serves as a 'one stop shop' to assist individuals fleeing from dangerous situations with the process of settling in Spain as a means to find a better life.

The non profit also works with other pro immigrant NGOs such as Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos de España, religious organizations such as Cáritas Española and Asociación Musulmana de España, NGOs formed by immigrants themselves, the three major political parties (PSOE, PP, and Izquierda Unida, the nation's hard left party), and labor unions to organize conferences and public ad campaigns to promote awareness over the issues facing immigrants and refugees in Spain and beyond, mobilize demonstrations and lobbying efforts to pressure the Spanish Government to legislation laws that protect the rights of these individuals, and create wider networks with other European NGOs such as European Network Against Racism to promote these causes within the European Union.

Within this organizational framework, volunteers can work in each of these capacities so long as their professional background allows them to successfully carry out this work. Lawyers, for instance, can serve as counsel for individuals who are applying for refugee status at the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry that processes foreign applications for residency and refugee statuses. Other volunteers serve as translators for documents related to a case of an individual applying for refugee status within the Ministry of the Interior. In my case, I am working as a member of the Reports Team, which creates in depth reports regarding the situation of human rights in different nations for attorneys who assist refugees and asylum seekers with their application for a protected legal status.

My work, however, does not remain in the NGO's headquarters. I have participated in protests over the Spanish Government's proposed reforms over the LO 4/2000 modified by the LO 8/2000 as well as its modifications of the law over asylum. These shots are from a protest in May that was organized by several pro immigrant/immigrant formed NGOs, including CEAR. Although it is small, it does reflect the desire of immigrants in Spain to pressure the Spanish Government to respect their rights as people and nothing more.