legal and social conditions for asylum seekers and refugees in ...

SOCIAL CONDITIONS FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS
Introduction/legal basis
Section 5(1) of the Asylum Act states that the authorities may make provision for asylum seekers’
basic needs.
According to Section 15 of the Asylum Regulation, asylum seekers whose claim has been deemed
admissible and who do not have sufficient resources on their own, may benefit from the social,
educational and health services provided by the state institutions according to their financial
resources.
In principle, social assistance is not available during admissibility procedure, but vulnerable
applicants, such as one-parent families, families with young children, sick persons, and elderly or
handicapped persons may be provided with social support from the time of the submission of their
application, without it being necessary to wait for the decision to be made on its admissibility.
Asylum seekers may obtain permission to work, depending on their procedural and individual
situation (see under “Work” below).
There is no legal instrument describing the social benefits available for asylum seekers as such,
and the Aliens Act’s provisions on social rights generally apply to asylum seekers, especially its
Sections 9 to 14. In addition, the Institute for Migrations and Social Services (“Instituto de
Migraciones y Servicios Sociales” – IMSERSO), a body of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs
in charge of providing social welfare to asylum seekers, displaced persons and refugees at national
level, runs annual social support programmes in collaboration with NGOs acting as implementing
partners. Finally, regional governments and local councils may also provide social benefits for
asylum seekers according to their own regulations and programmes.
Accommodation
There is no provision which guarantees accommodation to asylum seekers from their arrival in
Spain until such time as a decision on admissibility has been made, even though this may take up
to 60 days. Vulnerable applicants may be assisted by the IMSERSO during that period and are
given accommodation in the existing reception centres or in hostels. All others must find
accommodation on their own. Due to the lack of or the very limited social assistance available in
certain areas, this may lead to extremely difficult situations.
Reception centres are reserved for asylum seekers whose applications have been deemed
admissible. At present, there are 19 centres offering a total of 816 places. All centres are supported
financially by IMSERSO, but only four of them are run directly by this institution. The 15 remaining
centres are run by NGOs on the behalf of the IMSERSO.
Due to the limited number of places, accommodation in the reception centres is not compulsory,
nor indeed is accommodation available for all those who need it. In practice, priority is given to
vulnerable applicants. In the reception centres, asylum seekers receive board and lodging and
language tuition is provided. The stay at a reception centre should not exceed six months, but
IMSERSO may allow asylum seekers to stay longer in the centres, i.e. until the CIAR has made a
final proposal to the Minister of Interior on their application.
Asylum seekers who are not accommodated in the reception centres following the decision of
admissibility of their application’ may be granted a basic monthly allowance to cover their living
expenses. They may also receive extra assistance in order to pay their rent (see below).
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Spain