- After the Government ' s repatriation, they have had to reside for almost a year in private shelters and accommodation, and have been continuously displaced. The last time they were informed that the shelter they are currently using was to be abandoned on 31 October, although they would eventually be given a further extension. Families, together with EHKS and the Socialist Housing Union, have appealed to speed up as much as possible the resolution of their asylum claim and to guarantee them a quality and permanent housing alternative.
Five families from the Gaza Strip appeared this Wednesday in Vitoria-Gasteiz: With the support of the Socialist Council of Euskal Herria (EHKS) and the Socialist Housing Union of Euskal Herria, they have denounced their situation. In November 2023, when the Israeli terrorist state intensified the military offensive in the Gaza Strip, the Spanish Government repatriated 139 Hispano-Gazatis; and it did so with 15 other minors and their families in the coming months. Five of these families in Gaza have later been transferred to Vitoria-Gasteiz, who have reported that the Spanish Government has not yet guaranteed them a permanent housing alternative.
Among the detainees are ten minors, some of them of Spanish and Palestinian nationality. Since their delivery to Spain, they have been transferred to the Spanish State on five occasions. "They have never had a home of their own and stable, but have been in private accommodations and municipal shelters, without the possibility of cooking and without enough space to develop family life," said EHKS and the Socialist Housing Union (LAB). They have thus warned that neither the Spanish Government nor the Basque administrations nor those of Vitoria-Gasteiz have offered accommodation alternatives to the Palestinian families cited.
No alternative delivery deadline
Five families in the Gaza Strip have had to reside in Vitoria-Gasteiz, in city hostels and hotels. In August, however, those responsible for the reception programmes told them that they would not be able to continue in the hostel they currently use. However, they were not guaranteed any housing alternatives. After several extensions, they were informed that 31 October would be the last day for them to leave the hostel. However, it appears that the due date will be extended for another two months, until the end of December, when the deadline will be closed.
According to the Gazatarras, they have explained that on 6 October the Spanish Government stopped financing the so-called Gaza Project, which is now under development. And in Vitoria-Gasteiz, they have had to endure a tremendous "bureaucratic maze", according to the Socialist Housing Union and EHKS: The Social Services were asked to locate on their own an alternative housing before being expelled from the hostel; the municipal administrations destined them to Lanbide; and the aforementioned reception program offered them to go to a hotel with only 400 euros a week.
Disabilities for access to housing
The Socialist Housing Union and EHKS have recalled that, at present, "there is no alternative on the table" for the five Gazati families located in Vitoria-Gasteiz. They have also denounced that the last extension "perpetuates the agony of waiting for one extension after another" and that, in addition, families are told that "there are no resources and that they will have to seek life for themselves".
In this sense, during the hearing, they recalled the gravity of the housing situation at this time: "Many want to find rentals, but they don't get it because they can't overcome the racist and clasile filters of their owners. They are being asked to file payroll, but if they have just left the war, what payroll are they going to present? ".
One of these families, moreover, has already been the victim of hire fraud. In the face of "the threat and desperation to be on the street", 700 euros were paid, in theory, to see a house for rent. However, that house did not exist: they had been scammed.
The hypocrisy of the Spanish Government and the regional bodies
The Socialist Housing Union and EHKS have strongly denounced the hypocrisy of the Spanish Government and the regional institutions. After propaganda and "taking a picture" about the repatriation of some families from Gaza, five families in Vitoria-Gasteiz have not been guaranteed one floor, for example: - Does it cost so much? ".
The five families, with the help of the Socialist Housing Union and EHKS, have made various demands, under the motto Alternative to housing now! Under the motto '. They demand that the resolution of their asylum demand be speeded up as much as possible and that they be guaranteed a quality and definitive housing alternative, "without further changes".
Families have added that minors have been schooled in Vitoria-Gasteiz, where "they have already taken root", as explained by the same sources. "We do not add to the experience of seeing genocide any more unnecessary suffering than necessary," they stressed in the hearing before the media.