Spain accepts the transfer of several gazaties stranded in Egypt so that they can request asylum | Spain

After staying for months in a limbo, The majority of Gaza families who in the middle of last year submitted to the Spanish embassy in Cairo a request for transfer to Spain to be able to ask asylum They have seen their approved request and have begun to travel to the Peninsula. The Palestinians had fled from the strip separately after the start of the Israel military offensive, and were in a situation of great legal unprotection and economic vulnerability in Egypt. In addition, they were afraid to retaliate if they were returned to force.

« When they called me from the embassy to communicate that I had been granted the visa was the happiest moment of my life, » evokes one of the applicants, who, like the rest of those who spoke with the country, preferred to do so in condition of anonymity for security. « The first thing that came to mind was that I could finally plan my life, » he adds. « In Egypt I have not been able to rebuild everything I wanted, but now I think that in Spain I can finally start and finally rebuild what I lost; even pull forward, » he continues.

To prevent someone who flees from their country to have to play their lives to find refuge in Spain, The 2009 Asylum Law establishes that Spanish ambassadors may authorize a safe transfer so that they can make this request. Only two requirements are set: that the applicant is not national of the country in which the Spanish embassy is and that its physical integrity is in danger. In 2024, a judgment of the Supreme Court declared that this danger to physical integrity refers only to the situation in the country of origin and not of transit.

« The authorizations of transfer to Spain granted by the ambassador are an important step because they offer protection to people who, in addition to being affected by an armed conflict, have been victims of persecution in Gaza, » says Andrés Jiménez de Parga, lawyer for the Movement for Peace (MPDL), a Spanish NGO, and representative of the group. Of the 26 cases he has represented, there are four women and four children, members of the same family, who are still waiting. At least another Gazati family in Egypt, who made the application separately, has also received authorization, as the country has been able to know.

The thousands of Gazatis who fled to Egypt in the first months of war They entered with an ordinary visa without automatic option to renew it. So, except for exceptions, everyone has expired it for a long time and remain without residence, which leaves them in a very vulnerable legal situation and prevents them from signing a rent to hire a telephone line, opening a bank account or accessing public services. In addition, to get out of Gaza they had to pay all High sums of moneywhich represented a great economic effort.

On the other hand, Egypt does not recognize the mandate of the UN Agency for Refugees (UNHCR) about Palestinian citizens, so they cannot register, says Christine Beshay, the head of acnur communications in the country. And the UN Agency for Refugees in Palestine, UNRWA, does not operate in Egypt, whose Authorities have deported in the past Sudanese citizens and erythre despite the risk they ran in their countries of origin.

Gazati applicants who have spoken with this media also shared the fear that at some point the Egyptian authorities deported to Gaza. And they feared that, if so, reprisals could occur against them for having fled the strip. In addition, at least some of the applicants, in particular women, defend a liberal lifestyle, away from the professor by the Islamist movement Hamas, so they did not contemplate return.

« I remember that I was in my room, the phone sounded and my wife replied. Suddenly my name began to shout. I was crying. He approached me, hugged me, and said: ‘They have finally accepted our application. It is the Spanish embassy, ​​we will go to Spain,’ ‘recalls another of the applicants, who is already in the country. « We hugged and cry as babies, joy and happiness. It was a lifeguard for us. We felt that we would relive again, » « I remember that I took my baby, I kissed her and said: » You will finally be safe, Angelito. « 

In their status as international protection applicants, the Gazatis who have received authorization to move to Spain have the right to access the state reception system of the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, according to Jiménez de Parga. When they arrive at the airport, the Palestinians are received by members of the Red Cross and initially stay in some center managed by the entity.

« They treated us very well. The authorities, the people, have been very friendly and friendly, » explains the second applicant. « Now we are working on our formal roles. In my case, I am planning to homologate my university titles and learn Spanish to start looking for work. In fact, (now) I have started studying it, » he adds.

A third applicant, who is also in Spain, says he is « really overwhelmed. » « I cannot believe that it has finally happened. When we arrived in Spain, everything went well; they treated us very well. The people here are very friendly. I feel that I am free. Really. But, of course, I already miss my friends, » he acknowledges.

The authorization of the transfer to Spain only grants the applicants a safe way to move to Spain, since the Gazaties who have arrived because they had a visa are being granted protection. A Gazatí explains from Spain to El País that requested a tourist visa after the start of the war and that once received it, as it was in the West Bank, could travel from Jordan and ask for asylum when arriving. A few days later, ”he adds – he received an international protection card to stay while his application is studied, although he says he knows cases whose asylum request has already been resolved favorably.

The authorization of transfers to request protection occurs, however, in a spiny context, since they force Spain to maintain a difficult balance between guaranteeing a fundamental human right such as asylum without being a participant in an ethnic cleaning of Gaza, a dilemma that several Arab countries also face. In recent weeks, The Israeli government has promoted the expulsion of Gazatis to third countries And one of those he has indicated has been precisely Spain, whose Government has categorically rejected it.