Today is International Refugee Day. More and more people in the world are forced to flee their country of origin. His life is in danger because he can be persecuted by race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinions. And there's something like that in the county. Among others, the Zuloaga Txiki shelter in Tolosa is prepared to accommodate international asylum seekers and migrants in situations of special vulnerability, and currently has about twenty people.

Zuloaga Txiki has gone from being the house of pilgrims to being a reception centre. It opened its doors at the end of August 2019 and has a total capacity to serve a total of 35 people. It is a transfer from the City Council of Tolosa to CEAR-Euskadi for its management. In 2020, 68 people were treated and from 2021 to the present, 38 people have been treated. In total, 112 people from 22 nationalities have used this resource since its opening.

The director of Zuloaga Txiki, Arantza Chacón, explained that the reception centre provides a space for rest, protection and recovery. But they also provide the legal assistance needed to apply for international protection and contribute to the acquisition of health and training rights. “We are trying to build bridges for coexistence, to model the model of society that we want to build in the Basque Country.”

The Zuloaga Txiki hostel consists of two buildings, one of them with dining room, kitchen and a multipurpose floor for different workshops. In this room they also have washers to wash the clothes. In the other building, they have a hostel with bedrooms and toilets. It has shared rooms for 6 to 12 people, and on the upper floor, in the loft, in addition to the work office, they have table games, television, computers and others, "it is a place to be".

In this building, enabled to sleep, the ground floor is adapted for people with reduced mobility. And in most cases, families are also housed there. Right now, there's a couple with a year-old and a half-year-old boy and a kid with functional diversity moving in a wheelchair. The director explained that the ground floor is also used for those who, because of the pandemic, have to be isolated.

Moreover, the rooms are divided according to the type of profile of the people who arrive at each moment. “Migratory flows are changing, and the pandemic itself has changed its profiles in recent times: families are coming less and women coming alone are also less.” Chacón has explained that space also conditions them: “The rooms are big and shared, and as statistically more men come, it is easier to form a room of men; and once a man is taken to a room, we fill the room with men and vice versa.”

Working each

“Every person is a world,” says Zuloaga Txiki’s director. They try to pay a little attention to each other's reality: ‘The administrative situation in which these people find themselves is very difficult, but we are trying to address personal concerns, reflections and other situations’. When refugees arrive in Zuloaga Txiki, they seek to meet them and make them feel safe. “Many people arrive with a heavy backpack and with a lot of insecurity and mistrust,” he said. “We want to show them that we are willing to help and that we are willing to help in our environment, also in the centre.”

They create spaces for coexistence, ‘coexistence is at the base of Zuloaga Txiki’. From the moment they arrive at the center they make it clear that Zuloaga Txiki is something they build between all and all. For example, they take turns to eat and everyone has their day to day: getting up, having breakfast, going to class, eating, doing sports or some activity they like, having dinner and going to bed.

Chacón has reported that regular joint activities are also carried out, such as, for example, that although they now do not have a chicken cooker, they have been cared for among all, or when there is repair in the facilities, they do so among all.

The most common thing is that the people in the center come to study the working days. Most of them receive Spanish classes at the EPA, but in addition to the language, they do other formations in the center of Tolosa.

Temporary residence

Zuloaga Txiki are temporarily employed by migrants, refugees and stateless persons. The average length of stay is around four months, although there are those who have spent more than two weeks in the center and those who spend more than eight months. “Everything depends on the administrative situation or the status of the asylum file,” he explained.

In general, newcomers, they pass the first stage in Zuloaga Txiki, many are seeking asylum or are about to apply for it, but they also welcome those who have denied them asylum and those who are in a vulnerable situation. ‘Asylum demand, for example, is a very long account, some even get the red card and work permit to enter the labour market, but not everyone gets it’.

Upon arrival in the Basque Country, CEAR-Euskadi has headquarters in the three capitals of the CAPV, to which they are headed. Social workers analyze the cases and direct each to their place: “According to the analysis carried out, they are given the opportunity to access one of our centres and depending on their profile, availability and vacancies we decide where they will go.” The analysis takes into account everything from where you have been before, whether you have a relative close to you or the real reality of that person.

Supervised floors

Just as the CEAR-Euskadi is responsible for Zuloaga Txiki, the supervised apartments in Tolosa are owned by the CEAR. ‘We are two different but complementary organisations’, Chacón explained. In this case, CEAR follows the reception program of the Spanish ministry. In Tolosa, in total, there are three homes and 14 places for refugees. In the CAV, in particular, the supervised apartments have 198 seats. These dwellings are also adapted to the ‘profiles and needs of applicants for international protection’.