What options are available for people to leave their country? How do they get started on possible routes? What alternatives to reach Europe are available?
People are required to come legally. Is this actually possible?
States that are signatories to the Geneva Convention have an obligation to grant asylum, to protect victims of persecution who do not receive such protection in their country of origin. This is known as international protection.
The European Union extended the concept of international protection to include "subsidiary protection", a second level in which direct persecution is not required, but rather that the situation represents a serious risk to life.
In the EU, international protection takes two forms:
Refugee status:
This is granted to people who suffer individual persecution for one of the reasons set out in the Geneva Convention: a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. This protection is permanent and confers legal residency in Spain.
Subsidiary protection:
This is granted to those people who come from countries where there is armed conflict, war or other type of internal conflict that endangers the lives of the civil population. This protection entitles the holder to a temporary residence permit, to be reviewed every five years.
It's extremely difficult to access international protection from the country of origin, because it's considered that the person must be in Spanish or European territory in order to apply for asylum.
What legal and safe channels are available to those in need of protection?
One of the few avenues available is to have a family member in Europe who has been granted protection: this is the family extension reunification process.
Spanish law allows someone with refugee status to extend that status in order to bring over some family members.
Family Reunification
The process for someone to be reunited with their family can take years. They have to get International Protection first, before being able to start the procedure/process for bringing their family over.*
*The beneficiary of International Protection may request Family Reunification for: their father or mother on proof of dependency, their minor child, partner or other dependent member of their family.
If the beneficiary of International Protection is a minor, they may request a Family Reunification for an adult with responsibility for an adult who is responsible for them.
*The beneficiary of International Protection may request Family Reunification for: their father or mother on proof of dependency, their minor child, partner or other dependent member of their family.
If the beneficiary of International Protection is a minor, they may request a Family Reunification for an adult with responsibility for an adult who is responsible for them.
Family Reunification
In 2023, as per the trend of recent years, Family Reunification applications represented fewer than 1% of asylum applications.
163,220 asylum applications
877 applications for family reunification
Another of the safe and legal avenues to guarantee protection for people in their country of origin is the temporary protection mechanism, which although it has existed for over 20 years, has only been activated on one occasion: the war in Ukraine.
Temporary protection
The temporary protection rule has only been applied once in 20 years.
Temporary protection
However there have been many humanitarian crises over the last 20 years.
The likelihood of accessing protection legally and safely from the country of origin is greatly reduced for the majority of people who find themselves forced to leave in a risky fashion. However, European states do not require the same contitions for all nationalities.
Access denied
No-one with an African nationality has direct access to Spanish territory
Schengen area*
People within the Schengen Area have total freedom of movement to enter Spain.
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Finland, France, Croatia, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Slovenia, Slovakia
Tourist visa not required
Most people coming from America and some Asian countries are not required to hold a tourist visa in order to enter Spain.
Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, South Korea, Costa Rica, El Salvador, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, Georgia, Emirate of Granada, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Japan, Kiribati, Republic of Macedonia, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Nicaragua, New Zealand, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, United Kingdom, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Saint Kitts and Nevis, San Marino, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Vatican City, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, East Timor, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Ukraine, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela
Tourist visa required
People from most African countries, and some Asian and American countries need to comply with very strict criteria to be granted a tourist visa allowing entry to Spain.
Angola, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belize, Benin, Belarus, Myanmar, Bolivia, Botswana, Burundi, Bhutan, Cape Verde, Cambodia, Central African Republic, China, Comoros, North Korea, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Eswatini, Philippines, Fiji, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Guyana, Indonesia, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Laos, Lesotho, Lebanon, Líbya, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Morocco, Mauritania, Mongolia, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Oman, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Rwanda, Russia, São Tomé and Príncipe, South Africa, South Sudan, Suriname, Thailand, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kosovo
Tourist visa and airport transit visa required
People from Cuba and some African and Asian countries need an airport transit visa on top of their tourist visa to be allowed a stopover in a Spanish airport.
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Cuba, Djibouti, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Haiti , India, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Syria, Sudan, Tajikistan, Togo, Turkey, Chad, Uzbekistan, Yemen and the Palestinian Authority.
Visas are used to permit people to enter the territory of a state for which they are not nationals. Each State can decide if a person needs to seek permission to enter its territory or not i.e. whether they are required to apply for a visa; and each State has the power to authorise or refuse such permission.
For anyone wanting to come to Spain that lives in a country that requires a visa to do so, the process is likely to be complicated and slow.
If you despair at the time it takes to read this, can you imagine having to wait years to get to the place you want to be?
