Waiting
The protection that never comes
The lives of thousands of people on the move are put on hold for years due to countless obstacles, while bureaucracy decides if you can pass.
Your only option to leave your country was to embark on the journey by your own means – illegally and unsafely. There are exceptional cases – for instance, in some wars – where people can claim the right to receive international protection in a neighbouring country. In such cases, they are often required to wait in refugee camps while international organisations decide on their resettlement.
Refugee camps
There are 420 refugee camps and settlements worldwide. Some have a population of over 100,000 people.
*This map is indicative. It shows the approximate locations of camps, settlements, refugee centres and other UN-registered refugee sites.
Refugee camps
In 2023, the six largest had a combined population of almost 2 million people.
Resettlement failure
In the same year, Spain received only 943 people through the resettlement programme.
Most refugee camps are located in countries from which it is not possible to enter Spain without a visa, and in practice, the chances of resettlement through an international program are numerically insignificant. In this scenario, the last available option to leave legally and safely is Article 38 of the Asylum Law, an almost inaccessible route through which only a few dozen people have managed to enter.
Resettlement options or receiving protection through Article 38 are not real possibilities for those who have left their home countries. Immobility and waiting, in severely precarious and vulnerable conditions, make advancing along the migrant route in search of another option into Europe their only choice. The wait, however, will be prolonged for a long time yet.
He's already set off
Perhaps he has to wait in a refugee camp
Now his life is either to wait
Or to keep going
Maybe he's stranded in a country and doesn't want to risk losing his life at sea, in the desert or in the mountains.
The chances of safe passage are minimal.
He'll have to stay put, hoping for a change, a stroke of luck.
A contact with someone to help him get out.
And if not, take what he has left, and leave... keep going.
But to keep going is also to wait.
