Spain struggles to provide assistance to Ukrainian Refugees

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
3 Mar 2023 23:47

Thousands of Ukrainian refugees remain without financial assistance from the government due to bureaucratic issues.

Ukrainian refugees sit in a home of a resident in the village of Guissona, Lleida, Spain, Thursday, March 17, 2022. (AP)

Spanish newspaper El Pais reported on Friday that thousands of Ukrainian refugees are still waiting to receive financial assistance from the Spanish government which had promised to donate money in June 2022.

The report says that the authorities failed to deliver financial assistance to Ukrainian families, citing bureaucratic issues in Spain's autonomous communities who are responsible for delegating the money, where 70% of the funds had already been transferred in October 2022.

Eight autonomous communities, including Asturias, Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, Catalonia, Valencia, Galicia, Madrid, and Murcia, confirmed that they had not transferred the financial assistance to the families, citing various reasons for the delay, the report adds.

It further states that the funds were supposed to provide assistance to 40,000 out of almost 170,000 refugees who arrived in Spain since the beginning of the conflict.

They are specifically intended to assist those who do not rely on the state reception system and reside with family relatives or acquaintances without any other financial support.