The first LGTB + refuge center of the Spanish reception system opens

The Pedro Zerolo Reception Center will accommodate 20 LGTB + asylum seekers

GAYLES.TV.- Kifkif, Association of LGTBI Migrants and Refugees, and Red Welcomes they have opened the Pedro Zerolo Reception Center. This resource, pioneer in Spain, was born from the need to guarantee the human rights of applicants and facilitate their integration and inclusion in society. It is the first refugee resource of the Spanish reception system exclusively LGTB + which will house 20 asylum seekers and beneficiaries of international protection.

According to official data from ILGA world, the one that collective LGTB + it continues to face persecution, criminalization and even death sentences in more than 70 countries. The Pedro Zerolo Reception Center aims to be a safe space to provide a process of integration and inclusion for applicants for international protection LGTB +. Asylum applications based on sexual orientation or expression and gender identity are included in the Geneva Convention y Status of Refugees.

The effects of the pandemic by Covid-19, in addition to paralyzing the issuance of documentation and asylum processes, they have pushed asylum seekers into emergency situations LGTB +, by not having savings, formal jobs or social security contributions. Nor have they been able to benefit from social assistance and this has meant that many people find themselves without such basic resources as food, hygiene products or drugs. This group faces multiple discrimination in the workplace.

Samir Bargachi, President of Kifkif, has explained that this project "represents a new achievement for the refugee community LGTBI, after many years of work and effort of social organizations together with public institutions”. For his part, the president of Red Welcomes, Daniel Ibarz, has assured that the opening of the center is "fruit of networking, which values the contribution of each organization and has as its main objective the protection of the most vulnerable groups ».

The center is subsidized by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations, Secretary of State for Migration and General Directorate of Inclusion and Humanitarian Attention.