Vergeles: «Helping Ukraine is not as simple as going to Poland and coming with a lot of people»

The second vice president and Minister of Health and Social Services, José María Vergeles, has called on Extremaduran society to “channel well” all the solidarity it is showing with the Ukrainian people, as it may be “a very long process », since in many cases it is about «rebuilding life projects» cut short by the war.

Vergeles, after thanking this “enormous flow of solidarity”, has pointed out that “it may be that people arrive »for life«, which is why he has asked for »patience« to take the steps according to the needs so that the »solidarity lasts us« to be able to welcome you »in the best conditions«.

The Extremaduran leader also recalled that the Ukrainians who arrive in Spain, in accordance with the steps taken in this regard by the European Union, can move “freely” throughout the EU territory if they have a biometric passport, so technically It’s not about refugees.

Likewise, he recalled that migration is a state competence, because the participation of the immigration offices is fundamentally needed to offer international protection, for which it was necessary for the two orders of last week to be published, where a transposition of international protection directive.

With this, all citizens who resided in Ukraine on February 24, or Ukrainians who lived in Spain on that date, now have international protection as affected by a conflict zone.

Thus, he recalled that the Government acts first, through its three national reception centers in Madrid, Barcelona and Alicante. Once they have received the residence and work permit for one year, they can stay in state centers or move to the scope of the autonomous communities.

In this sense, the communities will be in charge of offering educational, health, social services, translators, cultural mediators… Therefore, “it is not as simple as going to Poland and coming with a lot of people”, he said Vergeles, who has insisted that the periods in which these people are in Spain “can be very long.”

“That it should not be understood as a vacation program in peace,” he snapped, while adding that the Ukrainians “have broken their lives” and now they have to start another one somewhere else, so, “it is good to help, but it is better to help well».

The community is also waiting to receive instructions from the ministry to know how to carry out this reception, either in the planned shelters, many of them offered by the municipalities, or in the homes of private citizens, which at this time have already been offered more of 250 in the region.

unaccompanied minors

On the other hand, there is attention to unaccompanied Ukrainian minors, which in this case is “much more complicated”, as preventive action must be taken to avoid human trafficking, this action is carried out by the Police. National “no matter how good will” the foster families have, he warned.

In this case, he pointed out that the community has made itself available to the Ministries of Inclusion and Social Rights, to distribute these minors as has been done on previous occasions with the MENAS when the Canary Islands centers are saturated, so that the child protection system can be offered homogeneously throughout the country to those who need it.

80 people on average in El Revellín

“When they tell us that a certain resource must be activated, it will be activated,” said Vergeles, who pointed out that what is in operation is the center for people in transit in Badajoz, which is being used by an average of 80 citizens, and which is located in the El Revellín hostel in Badajoz.

They are people who arrive in Badajoz because of its border nature with Portugal, where there is a “significant” Ukrainian community, as well as others who intend to reach the Lisbon airport to travel to third countries.

In this place they are attended to for a short period of time, generally a few hours, from the moment they arrive in Badajoz and wait for the next train that Adif has made available in its humanitarian aid plan at the intersection between the two countries.

They spend a few hours in the Ravelin, to receive supplies, rest, a first attention and not have to wait on the station platforms for the Portuguese train to arrive.