Two years of sheltering refugees in UAB

01/10/2018

Since 2016, UAB, Fundació Autònoma Solidaria (FAS) and Comissió Catalana d’Ajuda al Refugiat (CCAR) have been collaborating in sheltering refugees. Each year they shelter between 40-60 people who seek for refuge in Vila Universitària de la UAB and participate in training, awareness and escorting.
 
On 28 November an appreciation event to all participants in the shelter programme took place in Vila Universitària. The CCAR delivered an activities report on these two years’ experience. Furthermore, UAB presented a video with Emad, Sara and Salem’s testimonies, where they explained their experiences of their first shelter period in an environment like the UAB campus.



Miguel Pajares, president of CCAR, was congratulated for the productive work collected in the activities’ report: “it is a unique experience for the State because it provides refugees not only shelter but also training and coexistence in a student environment”.
 
Vice-Rector for Students and Employability Sara Moreno stated that this program of “more than two years got us to strengthen the possibilities that having a campus offers” and that programmes like this agree with “the founding values of a UAB committed to equality and justice”. The Vice-Rector concluded her speech with the following: “This year we aim to draw attention to what has been done and to dedicate the academic year to migrants, starting with the FMUAB, under the slogan #UABrefugi: l’Autònoma acull”. 
 
Jordi Prat, director of FAS, alluded to the video that was screened in the act by explaining that the testimonies are three accurate examples “of the almost 120 people that have already experienced the first shelter period in UAB" and defended that UAB and FAS “have to offer what we have and know how to do: campus, Vila, training, volunteering and language service”.
 
Lastly, Estela Pareja, director of CCAR, expressed her gratitude to all the university’s sectors for their involvement: “Governing Team, Administrative and Service Staff and FAS volunteering programmes”. Furthermore, she set a goal of establishing a “methodology beyond numbers that allows us to assess the differences of sheltering in a university environment”, although, according to what she confirmed, experience “tells us that feeling part of a community like this has been very positive for refugees”.
 
Shelter and accompanying
 
The Shelter programme for refugees in UAB is the result of a collaboration agreement between Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and Comissió Catalana d’Ajuda al Refugiat. FAS organises an experience based on participation aimed to achieve full integration of applicants for international protection by getting the university’s community involved in sheltering and accompanying. UAB provides accommodation and full access to a set of university services and resources and implements a volunteering project which aims to offer linguistic and social accompanying (social mentoring programme for emotional and instrumental accompanying).
 
Those sheltered in UAB’s Vila Universitària get benefit from the Shelter and Integration System for Applicants and Beneficiaries of International Protection of the Ministry of Labour, Migrations and Social Security which is alongside managed by the Spanish Comission for Refugees (CEAR).