The Generalitat denounces that the central government will not extend aid for displaced people from Ukraine and assures that the Consell will continue to help refugee families

• With 42,000 people welcomed, the Valencian Community is the region of the country with the largest population displaced by this war conflict

• From 2025, regional and local administrations will have to finance the aid and essential services provided to them

The regional secretary of Equality and Diversity, Asunción Quinzá, has regretted that the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration is not going to extend, beyond 2025, aid for people displaced as a result of the migration crisis caused by the invasion of Ukraine, since the central Executive considers that it is the local and regional administrations that must assume the expenses generated by the care of these people.

As stated by the regional secretary, the Generalitat, on “two occasions”, has transferred to the central Government “the situation of this aid and the need for mechanisms that allow extending the financing and funds necessary to serve the beneficiaries of the regime. of temporary protection affected by the war in Ukraine and who lack sufficient economic resources.”

With more than 42,000 people welcomed, the Valencian Community is the region of the country that has received the most displaced population since this war began.

The regional secretary recalled that the massive arrival of people displaced by the war meant the “overflow” of the reception system designed by the Government of Spain, which caused both the Generalitat and the territorial administrations to make an “overexertion economically, materially and humanly.” ” to provide assistance to the population coming from Ukraine.

The objective, Quinzá emphasized, has been to “serve them, from the beginning, and avoid integration problems” by making essential public services available to them such as health care, education for children or advice on job searches.  

Direct aid and financing of services

In total, since 2022, the central Executive has allocated 20.4 million euros to the Valencian Community to finance direct economic benefits and to cover actions carried out by local administrations for the benefit of displaced people.

Since then, the Generalitat has processed and paid 8,907 aid and has worked to incorporate many of the men and women who fled the conflict into the labor market, which has reduced their “dependence on social assistance.”

However, the regional secretary has pointed out, at this time "there are more than 20,000 displaced people who continue to need the support and assistance of the administration", both in the search for employment and in meeting their basic needs.

For this reason, and in response to the central Executive's announcement not to extend this aid, the Consell has expressed its concern and insists on the importance of "continuing to assist refugee families who lack sufficient economic resources", especially because, as of Today, the war continues and his return to Ukraine “does not seem viable.”

The Government's argument that the regional and local social services should be responsible for responding to the situation and the reference to the financial support measures that already exist, such as the minimum insertion income of the autonomous communities and the Minimum Living Income , “collides squarely with the underfinancing to which the Valencian Community is subjected, which, in this case, makes it difficult to provide aid to vulnerable people who have had to flee the invasion of their country,” Quinzá indicated.

Despite this, he assured, “we will continue to be in permanent contact, as we have done throughout this time, with the refugees and with the consular corps accredited in the Valencian Community to learn about their needs, concerns and concerns, and work together. to continue providing assistance to families hosted in the region.”