Huelva/Almería, (EFE) substandard housing” against which Europe is vigilant.
This week, the Commission of Petitions of the Eurocámara decided to keep open the petition to investigate the complaints of violation of fundamental rights in these towns and share the file with the Commission of Employment; It also called on the European Commission to keep the European Parliament informed of its evolution.
The petition, transferred to the European Parliament by the IU and the NGOs Almería Acoge and Asociación Multicultural Mazagón, seeks to improve the conditions of almost 10,000 immigrants who work in agriculture in these two provinces. They live without electricity or drinking water, without the slightest habitability conditions and under roofs made of plastic, wood and cardboard that, on occasions, are engulfed in flames with victims who have lost everything, sometimes even their lives.
The IU coordinator in Almería, María Jesús Amate, told EFE in the shanty town of Atochares, in Níjar, that they hope that Europe will “put pressure” on the Government and the municipalities to register these immigrants who “work and live in the territory Spanish in a situation of semi-slavery.
Sub-Saharan and Moroccan men
“No one wants to live in a settlement, everyone wants decent housing. There is no social or adequate housing; We ask that they be built, since a lot of aid comes from Europe, but that they be long-term solutions, not like those that were taken a few months ago in Níjar with the town of ‘El Walili’”, he adds.
According to the latest report from Andalucía Acoge in the framework of the ‘Germinal’ project, in Huelva and in the Níjar region (Almería) an average of 75% of the residents in settlements are men of about 32 years of age, mainly sub-Saharan and Moroccan, with more of three years of residence in Spain and, more than half, in an irregular situation.
Eva Villanueva, United Podemos candidate for mayor of Níjar, affirms that there are only 15 people left in the temporary shelter of Los Grillos, since “many went to other settlements.”
From the province of Huelva, Pepa Suárez, spokesperson for the Mazagón Multicultural Association, has told EFE that “we cannot consent” that after 25 years these settlements continue, which demonstrates the little will of public administrations and the business sector , and hopes that the transfer of the petition to the Employment Committee will help “there be a visit from MEPs who will find out in situ what the real situation of migrants is”.
People, he points out, whom local administrations “systematically refuse to register against the Law, thus vetoing their citizen rights” and whose vulnerability “part of the red fruit business sector takes advantage of to violate certain labor rights ”.
Strategic plan
The administrations, for their part, defend their interest in eradicating the problem. For example, last July a general action protocol was signed between the Secretary of State for the 2030 Agenda and the Junta that set the eradication of these settlements in two years, with 5 million euros of investment in projects to provide a housing solution. .
Projects that, initially, go through the construction of two residences in the municipalities of Moguer and Lepe (Huelva) to which a subsidy of 2.6 million euros has been granted by agreement of the Council of Ministers that has been appealed before the Supreme Court for the City Council of Lucena del Puerto (Huelva) for leaving out this municipality, which is currently the one that houses the largest number of people in settlements.
In addition, as EFE has been informed by the Ministry of Social Inclusion, in parallel with this protocol that they trust will serve as a work reference for administrations, and after investing 4.5 million in care for these people in recent years, works on a strategic plan that revolves around the town halls.
The plan provides for a line of aid of 5 million by 2023, from the Next Generation, which will be launched soon, intended for municipalities to build, acquire or rehabilitate buildings for accommodation.
It is not the only Ministry involved. Níjar received in 2022 a total of 1,547,351 euros from the Rental Promotion Program to build 62 affordable rental homes that will be used as temporary accommodation for temporary workers. The same ones in which it is intended to shelter the residents of ‘El Walili’, the town evicted at the end of January.
little political will
The general director of Andalucía Acoge, José Miguel Morales, points out that to date there has been “very little political will to find solutions” to a situation that affects agricultural workers of African origin affected by an “agricultural production model that is based on job insecurity and very unfair working conditions”.
He also stresses that agricultural settlements are often found in tourist areas where rental housing is reserved for these purposes, with “unaffordable” prices in general, to which is added “racism, which increases and intensifies the effect” of the above causes.
He asks that any solution like the one in Níjar start from recognizing these people as neighbors; that the measures are not intended as evictions, but as rehousing; and that they be “for everyone who lives in a settlement, you cannot speak, and this has been negotiated with Níjar, that they are only for people with papers.” EFE