- The government delegate argues that the debate on the Arana International Protection Reception Center “is already over and should be above political acronyms”
- “Vitoria is an example of a welcoming city, it has a lot of experience in integrating emigrants and making them become new Vitorians”
- “The Refugee Center does not involve problems, on the contrary, it will help to revitalize the neighborhood and create work”
The delegate of the Government of Spain in the Basque Country, Marisol Garmendia, wants to leave behind the debate raised yesterday in General Meetings promoted by the PP to question the location of the Refugee Center that is being built in Vitoria.
“It is a debate that has already been overcome and that should not be repeated in a loop that only responds to the partisan interests of the People’s Party. We cannot use these people, these families, as haunted weapons to support the partisan interests of the PP. Refugee policy should be above political acronyms,” says Marisol Garmendia.
The delegate of the Government recalls that “Vitoria and Euskadi are examples of welcoming places with emigrants and they will demonstrate it again. Vitoria has a lot of experience in integrating people who arrive from other places and encouraging them to become citizens, new Vitorians, in full rights.”
The International Protection Reception Center planned in the old Arana clinic will not cause problems for either the city or the neighborhood, as the PP presupposes. On the contrary, “it’s going to be a model center and it’s going to help create work and revitalize the neighborhood of Arana, as it already happens in other cities. They are people who come to undertake new life projects, to learn and to work,” says Garmendia.
The new International Protection Reception Centre also responds to a question of solidarity and social justice. “The PP wants to use it in its partisan struggle, but these are people and families that we have to welcome, out of solidarity and democratic and civic criteria. All institutions have to offer solutions”, concludes Garmendia