The Phone

Mural Art: rize_176 
Storytelling: Oana Maroti

Communication is essential in everything we do, especially when we are working in support roles, that is, with other people.

Although accessing the immigration service is extremely difficult if you don't have money, this department, operating on a closed system, can throw you out on the street. All the delays caused by the lack of communication endanger many people's lives.

They are taken out onto the street in a particularly cruel manner during a storm, which is an illegal procedure from a universal perspective, related to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that Spain signed decades ago. It is also a procedure contrary to the European inclusion strategy and, furthermore, to the local inclusion plan.

After arriving on the street, the mandatory emergency intervention process is rarely applied, and if it is, it's very complicated.

The inclusion strategy clearly stipulates that the primary function of institutions is the prevention of emergency situations; that is, we don't wait for people to die of cold, nor do we carry out evictions without logic and without finding a viable solution to a real problem.

I want to highlight the lack of communication within the system and how it frequently endangers lives with a real case.

Ousman is on the street and was suddenly removed from a support center, as the exclusion procedure seems more feasible than the inclusion one. I found him after the February storm that destroyed his few belongings. His phone stopped working, and since then, he has been trying to contact his social worker. Until December 18th, he hadn't seen his assigned person. Even if the state of the situation was an emergency, and according to the procedure, if you find a person on the streets who is unable to reach out to services, bring them to the service. I did just that, but the communication was closed. I was even reputedly told that, like him, there are many others, information that doesn´t help at all…

I went in person three times to explain the emergency situation requiring social intervention. Meanwhile, I've found training and job opportunities for Ousman, and everything could be resolved, but without the person assigned to the case, nothing can be done, and development is stopped.

After 20 days of repeated attempts to contact him, the social worker finally responded to the initial request to intervene in the training. This is a big step toward normalcy, but Ousman will still be spending his holidays on the street, cold and hungry.

Being on the streets is not like being happy in your room, warm and cozy with a hot meal, waiting for your presents. It's a harsh, dehumanizing existence. Every day puts your life at risk, and now, with winter, the cold, and the storms, the situation is even more precarious, given the already numerous victims, and the recent festive evacuations.

In short, since the 2nd of dec, when I accompanied Ousman to contact social services, all I hear is: "We'll call you," when the main problem is that he doesn't have a phone. The absurdity of how the support service operates—not having a phone—means that for any reason, he needs an intermediary, and his life isn't in his own hands. If you can't contact any support service, register for training, stay in touch with your family, access basic resources, or call 112, then you are in grave danger.

As a consequence of this absurd situation, where you contact support services because your phone was destroyed in a storm and you can't afford a replacement, and they robotically tell you they can't help but will call you back, I urge phone and IT companies to participate in solving this systemic problem. For effective communication, the people who are told they will be called first need a phone.

Which IT companies can commit to facilitating communication these days and thus saving lives? You just need to contact people directly, or social services if you prefer, but ensure that the phones reach those who truly need them.

The situation goes deeper. In communication, we already know that autonomy is the key; that´s why we have personal numbers and accounts. In this case, even if the personal number exists, there is no physical phone to use it, but nowadays we have internet access and alternatives, which is what I thought. In all my work-travels abroad, I have relied on the library´s presence to use the internet, and any form I had to complete was possible to do so, yet this accessibility depends on the papers you have.

The librarians fought for an accessible space to knowledge, and through this development. It´s a special place designated for those who want to know. Literature and the arts have also fought since the first manifestation for inclusion and accessibility, so that the public spaces are accessible to all people, migrants included. Knowledge helps to not feel lost, and in Cataluña, you are kind of obliged to navigate the legislation in 2 languages. To learn, you need access to the library and a phone, at least.

So, my proposal is that IT companies get closer to the libraries and adapt them to be able to give direct support, and make sure the communication is open, especially for migrants who have such a harsh time, not eating for days, trapped in this absurd and deadly bureaucracy.