Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoSPAIN / SYRIAN REFUGEES
Download
There is no media available to download.
Share
STORY: SPAIN / SYRIAN REFUGEES
TRT: 3:54
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT UNHCR ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / SPANISH / NATS
DATELINE: 10-12 OCTOBER 2019, PORTUGALETE, BILBAO, BASQUE COUNTRY, SPAIN
10 OCTOBER 2019, PORTUGALETE, BASQUE COUNTRY, SPAIN
1.Various shots, Basque scouts escorting Syrian refugee children Andaan, Sidra and Mahsal from school to home
2.Various shots, Portugalete’s Vizcaya bridge and city views
3. Close up, one of the children buzzing up as the group arriving home
4. Wide shot, family members and Spanish supporters greeting each other
5. Wide shot, family members and their Spanish supporters
6. Close up, Minwer’s son
7. Close up, a Spanish volunteer
8. Wide shot, Spanish volunteer Karmele Villaroel playing with refugee children
9. Med shot, refugee mother looking at them
10. Various shots, Spanish volunteer Karmele Villaroel teaching refugee children
11. Close up, Minwer’s youngest daughter
12. Med shot, Minwer with his older daughter
13. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Minwer, Syrian refugee:
“Our integration has been great, and we’re learning the language faster, and the children are, too. The group makes our lives easier.”
14. Med shot, his Minwer’s daughter kissing a volunteer and her father
11 OCTOBER 2019, PORTUGALETE, BASQUE COUNTRY, SPAIN
15. Med shot, Spanish volunteers Begoña Fernandez jocking with children
16.Wide shot, Spanish volunteers and the family
17. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Karmele Villaroel, Ellacuría Foundation:
"The programme clearly benefits the resettled refugee family. It helps them with their daily tasks, the relationship with their environment and their access to the resources. The programme creates committed citizens who get to know a reality they might not have experienced.”
18. Med shot, Karmele Villaroel with the family
19. Various shots, Minwer and his wife learning Spanish
20.SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Minwer, Syrian refugee:
“There was a huge wound that I left behind, but since I arrived in Spain and found these people, my wound has grown a little smaller. Of course I can’t forget my children who died, but they help me to manage. There are no words to describe how I feel about the group.”
21. Various shots, family and volunteers eating together
The first Community Sponsorship Pilot - Programme in Spain is being implemented in the Basque Country, benefiting 29 Syrian refugees, in five families, resettled from Jordan.
Minwer’s family has fled the war in Syria and were resettled in Spain from Jordan as part of the programme.
Local residents give their time and friendship to help the family integrate, creating a community of support.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Minwer, Syrian refugee:
“Our integration has been great, and we’re learning the language faster, and the children are, too. The group makes our lives easier.”
Since their arrival in March, faith-based NGOs –Caritas/Fundación Ellacuría- mobilized a multiplicity of local sponsors of all ages and socio-economic background that are putting soul, life and heart into it facilitating the integration of the newcomers.
The programme is a joint effort between central and regional governments and Ellacuría Foundation and Cáritas with support from UNHCR
In just six months it has transformed the lives of both refugees and community sponsors
SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Karmele Villaroel, Ellacuría Foundation:
"The programme clearly benefits the resettled refugee family. It helps them with their daily tasks, the relationship with their environment and their access to the resources. The programme creates committed citizens who get to know a reality they might not have experienced.”
It’s a group effort, Tito, a retired lawyer, helps with Spanish lessons.
For Minwer, the sponsors have become a second family, providing emotional support to heal the trauma of war. Two of his children were killed in Syria.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Minwer, Syrian refugee:
“There was a huge wound that I left behind, but since I arrived in Spain and found these people, my wound has grown a little smaller. Of course I can’t forget my children who died, but they help me to manage. There are no words to describe how I feel about the group.”
The sponsorship programme has given the family the chance to rebuild their lives and to create a home away from home.
The project is an example of the concrete contributions that ordinary citizens can make on the lives of refugees. How to translate the principle of international solidarity into concrete action and finding legal pathways for refugees to reach safety will be key themes to be discussed at the Global Refugee
Forum in Geneva mid-December. A high-level meeting where States, the private sector, academia, and other actors are expected to announce high-impact contributions to help refugees and the communities that host them.
