Govt will fund immigrant repatriation

MADRID
SPAIN'S central government confirmed yesterday that as of the end of October or start of November this year, it will fund a repatriation programme through unemployment payments for immigrant workers who have come from countries outside the European Union.

The announcement was made by Madrid's Employment minister Celestino Corbacho following a cabinet meeting that ordered the legislation to be passed through Parliament as a matter or urgency.

The move, added the minister, comes not just as a “sticking plaster” policy for an interim solution to immigrant disillusion and economic hardship but rather as a permanent solution to help those who want to, return to their home countries. According to initial calculations, the potential number of beneficiaries of the new payments could be as high as 87'000. Those applying for the funding will receive it piecemeal over an average period oscillating between 6 and 18 months. The plan will allow immigrants to receive payment to return to their home country in two sections. Once their right to the benefit is established, 40 percent of the return fare home can be collected through unemployment benefit here in Spain and the remaining 60 percent will be paid from their country of origin 30 days after the first payment has been made in Spain. As of next week, those interested in application can pick up information on the scheme from their local unemployment bureaux. The measure is aimed at unemployed workers from 19 countries with which Spain has signed reciprocal agreements in matters of Social Security but the law leaves open the option for other countries to join the scheme if they can guarantee certain basic standards in healthcare and social welfare.

If an immigrant wants to receive this benefit, he or she must agree not to return to Spain for a time period of three years, but Corbacho was adamant that if they chose to do so after the limit was up, immigrants could claim exactly the same rights in Spain again as they are entitled to at the present time. “No one is going to lose their rights in Spain by returning to their home country,” he said. “The repatriation needs to be seen as another opportunity to succeed in the home country.”