“I arrived in Spain five months ago. I’m staying in a room, but without a lease. I can’t access the registry. Without register, my child cannot access any nursery school. They don’t give him a place, because we are not registered. Since I have to take care of him, I can’t work.“Judith González has been trying to enroll her baby in a daycare center since June. Madrid City Council. The point system that determines admission to publicly owned schools considers “essential” census. Migrant families are often “invisibilized”, trapped in a kind of bureaucratic tunnel with no exit.
In this context, 16 social groups in Madrid have launched the campaign Invisibles, register by right. The initiative arises to resume the “historical struggle” of the anti-racist movements and ensure compliance with the law. “The registry is an obligation that municipalities have with all people who reside in a municipality, regardless of their nationality and whether or not they have residence permit. The rise of the right and the extreme right has intensified the difficulties of migrants to access the register”, denounce the organizers.
The denial of right to register It means, in fact, the impossibility of accessing such basic and routine issues as medical care, unemployment benefits or the schooling of minors. “Judith’s case is particularly bloody. Since early childhood education is not compulsory, competent administrations They do not assign you a place. Migrant children cannot go to school and mothers have no conciliation. The registry is the first barrier and the most inhumane. Migrants are invisible, they do not exist. Then we talk about its lack of integration…”, claims Nines Cejudocampaign spokesperson.
Judith is not the only one who has seen her plans cut short due to the institutional racism. Farzana is pregnant and uses a prepaid card to talk to her mother. “I wanted to make a telephone contract, because it is cheaper and I need to save for when the baby arrives. Companies require me to have a bank account. I have gone to four different branches and they ask me for the register. Without the registry, I can’t open a bank account,” he explains.
Migrants are also not freed from obstacles when the system opens a door for them. To Fernando, Your company blocked your account without prior notice.claiming that the documentation had expired. The young man had his payroll direct deposited and depended on that money to make purchases and pay the rent. Banks are required to provide products with hardly any commissionslike a basic payment accountso that people in vulnerable situations do not fall into financial exclusion.
Activists also remember that people who do not have a registry can hardly apply for or renew their residence permit. This is what happened to one of the spokespersons for the Interlavapiés Network, Abdoulaye Thiaw. “I cannot renew my residence card, because one of the documents they require of me is precisely the registry. It is incomprehensible and frustrating, because the solution is not in my hand“, he denounces in a conversation with Public. The young man, of Senegalese origin, has been in Spain for more than five years.
Nines Cejudo, spokesperson for the campaign, cannot understand why the Social Services of the Madrid City Council “they only register people they consider extremely vulnerable, to give them access to a battery of rights” and defines the approach as a “contradiction” in itself. “The Administration is recognizing that People at risk of social exclusion do need the registry to acquire rights. “What’s wrong then?” suggests the activist. The selection criteria, furthermore, does not always work.
Eva wants to request the minimum vital incomebut it must meet a series of requirements, such as appearing in the municipal registry records. The young woman arrived in Madrid two years ago and is still unable to access benefits.. The problem is becoming more acute housing crisis and migrants, without a registry, are also not eligible for officially protected apartments. “I have the nationality [española] and live-in work in a home. I have not been able to register, because my bosses [con los que vive] they have not wantedthat’s why I don’t have the right to public housing,” explains Ilma, 52, also affected.
An exclusive rule of law
He Madrid City Council recognizes –legally– the right to register of the neighbors. The Area of Families, Equality and Social Welfare published a decree on July 22, 2020 with the criteria to standardize the process in the local network of Social Services. The guideline establishes that “a fictitious domicile can and should be used” when “a person who is homeless” habitually reside in the municipality. “Why are they being denied registration? The explanation is purely political, city councils do not comply with their own laws“, slides Nines Cejudo.
The BOE also states that to register it is not necessary to present either the residence permit, the DNI or NIE, as the competent authorities often require. Passport is enoughjust as they are”the receipt of submission of the application for international protection” or “the documents accrediting the status of applicant, in process, for international protection.” The sources consulted by this newspaper assure that “showing your face is the most complicated“, because migrants are “afraid” and want to escape re-victimization, hence the “invisibilization“of the conflict.
The platforms behind Invisibles, register by right denounce that municipal institutions systematically violate the guarantees of migrants and prevent their registration, except when they own a home or a rental contract in their name, which, “if we take into account that they almost always have to sublet a room“, is practically impossible. The launch of the campaign will take place this Saturday, October 26, between 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. at the Reina Sofia Museum. “The registry is the first trip of the systemplunges you into a rule of law that is not made for you,” say the organizers.
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