Tags / asylum seeker

Portrait of an old man among the refugees as he waits to cross the border from Greece to Macedonia. Idomeni, August 24, 2015.

Refugees walk among the fields towards the Greek-Macedonian border. Idomeni, August 24, 2015.

A small child cries because of the tension as refugees wait to cross the Greek-Macedonian border. Idomeni, August 24, 2015.

Refugees wait to cross the Greek-Macedonian border. Idomeni, August 24, 2015.

Refugees among the fields walk towards the Greek-Macedonian border. Idomeni, August 24, 2015.

A small child on her mother's arms among a group of refugees waiting for the permission from the Macedonian border police to cross the Greek-Macedonian border. Idomeni, August 24, 2015.

A small child on his father's arms and the Macedonian border police on the Greek-Macedonian border. Idomeni, August 24, 2015.

A small tension between refugees waiting to cross the Greek-Macedonian border and the Macedonian border police. Idomeni, August 24, 2015.

Refugees sit down on the train tracks as they wait to cross the Greek-Macedonian border. Idomeni, August 24, 2015.

Refugees cross the border from Greece to Macedonia to board on trains that will take them to the Macedonian-Serbian border.

Refugees wait to be transported by train to the Macedonian-Serbian border while the Macedonian border police is guarding them. Gevgelija, August 23, 2015.

Refugees, among the children, are waiting in the line to board on the train that will take them to the Macedonian-Serbian border. Gevgelija, August 23, 2015.

Refugees are crossing the Greek-Macedonian. Gevgelija, August 23, 2015.

Refugees, among the children, are waiting in the line to board on the train that will take them to the Macedonian-Serbian border. Gevgelija, August 23, 2015.

Refugees, among the children, are waiting in the line to board on the train that will take them to the Macedonian-Serbian border. Gevgelija, August 23, 2015.

Refugees, among the children, in the train that will take them to the Macedonian-Serbian border. Gevgelija, August 23, 2015.

A refugee child carries his luggage as he walks on the train tracks to the Gevgelija bus station. Gevgelija, August 23, 2015.

Refugees are crossing the Greek-Macedonian. Gevgelija, August 23, 2015.

Refugees wait in the line to cross from the Greek side of the border to the Macedonian. Idomeni, August 23, 2015.

A refugee crosses the Greek-Macedonian border. Idomeni, August 23, 2015.

Refugees cross the Greek-Macedonian border from Idomeni to Gevgelija on August 23, 2015.

Refugees cross the Greek-Macedonian border from Idomeni to Gevgelija on August 23, 2015

Refugees after crossing the Greek-Macedonian border walk towards the train that will take them to the Macedonian-Serbian border. Gevgelija, August 23, 2015.

Portrait of a refugee child waiting for the train that will take him to the Macedonian-Serbian border. Gevgelija, August 23, 2015.

A refugee child waiting for the train that will take him to the Macedonian-Serbian border. Gevgelija, August 23, 2015.

The Gevgelija train station. Gevgelija, August 23, 2015.

According to the UNHCR, there are more than 60 million refugees worldwide, who had to flee their homes because of prosecution, wars and human rights violations. This is the highest figure since the end of World War II.
Once again, the number of people who managed to seek asylum in Spain has been very low: only 5,947, which just represents 0.95% of the total in 28 countries from the European Union. And among all those asylum seekers, only 384 got the refugee status by the Spanish government.
Barcelona is the second city in Spain with the highest number of asylum requests (690). Only Madrid shows a higher figure (1,861). This photo collection shows the story of 6 migrants, most of them asylum seekers and refugees who live and survive in Barcelona.
World Refugee Day is held every year on June 20.

Gilda Arnez (left), 46, from Bolivia, attends a birthday celebration at Latin American Women Association in Barcelona, Spain.
Gilda Arnez migrated to Barcelona for economical reasons in 2004. She left three children back in Bolivia and wanted to improve their future while working in Europe and sending them money. However, life in Spain has not been so good as she expected and she has been working in many small jobs, mostly taking care of old and disabled people. Now that she has legal residency in Spain, she would like to bring her children.

Gilda Arnez (center), 46, from Bolivia, attends a birthday celebration at Latin American Women Association in Barcelona, Spain.
Gilda Arnez migrated to Barcelona for economical reasons in 2004. She left three children back in Bolivia and wanted to improve their future while working in Europe and sending them money. However, life in Spain has not been so good as she expected and she has been working in many small jobs, mostly taking care of old and disabled people. Now that she has legal residency in Spain, she would like to bring her children.

Gilda Arnez (right), 46, from Bolivia, and her friend Graciela (left), walk downstairs to the metro station after attending a birthday celebration at Latin American Women Association in Barcelona, Spain.
Gilda Arnez migrated to Barcelona for economical reasons in 2004. She left three children back in Bolivia and wanted to improve their future while working in Europe and sending them money. However, life in Spain has not been so good as she expected and she has been working in many small jobs, mostly taking care of old and disabled people. Now that she has legal residency in Spain, she would like to bring her children.

Gilda Arnez, 46, from Bolivia, travels by metro after attending a birthday celebration at Latin American Women Association in Barcelona, Spain.
Gilda Arnez migrated to Barcelona for economical reasons in 2004. She left three children back in Bolivia and wanted to improve their future while working in Europe and sending them money. However, life in Spain has not been so good as she expected and she has been working in many small jobs, mostly taking care of old and disabled people. Now that she has legal residency in Spain, she would like to bring her children.

Gilda Arnez (center), 46, from Bolivia, visits Leonor (left) and her partner Nixon at her house in Barcelona, Spain. Leonor, a 67-year-old woman, used to be taken care by Gilda few years ago.
Gilda Arnez migrated to Barcelona for economical reasons in 2004. She left three children back in Bolivia and wanted to improve their future while working in Europe and sending them money. However, life in Spain has not been so good as she expected and she has been working in many small jobs, mostly taking care of old and disabled people. Now that she has legal residency in Spain, she would like to bring her children.

Alejandro Antonio González, 22, from Guatemala, attends a session with his psychologist, provided by the local NGO Exil in Barcelona, Spain.
Alejandro arrived in Barcelona in September 2013, after being bullied for his homosexual condition for many years back home: his father repudiated him, police used to harass him and his friends in public areas and he was even once kidnapped and raped by two unknown men. He is happy to be now in Barcelona where he attends a psychologist who helps him feel free to express his sexuality. He actively participates in sexual education campaigns for the gay community and he would like to become a nurse in the future.

Alejandro Antonio González (right), 22, from Guatemala, has a drink with one of his best friends in Barcelona, Spain.
Alejandro arrived in Barcelona in September 2013, after being bullied for his homosexual condition for many years back home: his father repudiated him, police used to harass him and his friends in public areas and he was even once kidnapped and raped by two unknown men. He is happy to be now in Barcelona where he attends a psychologist who helps him to feel free to express his sexuality, he actively participates in sexual education campaigns for the gay community and he would like to become a nurse in the future.

Alejandro Antonio González (center), 22, from Guatemala, walks in Barcelona city center, Spain, with two of his best friends.
Alejandro arrived in Barcelona in September 2013, after being bullied for his homosexual condition for many years back home: his father repudiated him, police used to harass him and his friends in public areas and he was even once kidnapped and raped by two unknown men. He is happy to be now in Barcelona where he attends a psychologist who helps him feel free to express his sexuality, he actively participates in sexual education campaigns for the gay community and he would like to become a nurse in the future.

'Fodoy', from Gambia, changes his clothes in a gym in Barcelona, Spain. 'Fodoy' is a nickname for this migrant from Gambia, who arrived to Barcelona in 2007 without residence permit. He fled the country due to political prosecution and departed in a boat to the Canary Islands. Then, the Spanish authorities transferred him to Valencia and then to Barcelona. His asylum request has been blocked until 2017 due to having been condemned for drugs dealing. Until then, he is struggling to find accommodation and to have income to survive, although organizations such as CCAR assist him from time to time.

'Fodoy', from Gambia, practices weights in a gym in Barcelona, Spain. 'Fodoy' is a nickname for this migrant from Gambia, who arrived to Barcelona in 2007 without residence permit. He fled the country due to political prosecution and departed in a boat to the Canary Islands. Then, the Spanish authorities transferred him to Valencia and then to Barcelona. His asylum request has been blocked until 2017 due to having been condemned for drugs dealing. Until then, he is struggling to find accommodation and to have income to survive, although organizations such as CCAR assist him from time to time.

'Fodoy', from Gambia, practices weights in a gym in Barcelona, Spain. 'Fodoy' is a nickname for this migrant from Gambia, who arrived to Barcelona in 2007 without residence permit. He fled the country due to political prosecution and departed in a boat to the Canary Islands. Then, the Spanish authorities transferred him to Valencia and then to Barcelona. His asylum request has been blocked until 2017 due to having been condemned for drugs dealing. Until then, he is struggling to find accommodation and to have income to survive, although organizations such as CCAR assist him from time to time.

'Fodoy', from Gambia, practices weights in a gym in Barcelona, Spain. 'Fodoy' is a nickname for this migrant from Gambia, who arrived to Barcelona in 2007 without residence permit. He fled the country due to political prosecution and departed in a boat to the Canary Islands. Then, the Spanish authorities transferred him to Valencia and then to Barcelona. His asylum request has been blocked until 2017 due to having been condemned for drugs dealing. Until then, he is struggling to find accommodation and to have income to survive, although organizations such as CCAR assist him from time to time.

Yaya Ouahara (center) attends a workshop at the office of the Catalan Commission for Refugee Aid (CCAR) in Barcelona, with two other migrants and two CCAR staff members.
Yaya, 36 years old from Ivory Coast, arrived to Spain in 2009 by a small boat and after three years traveling through Africa. Yaya fled the civil war in his country and he recently got residence permit to stay in Spain permanently.