La ministra Elma Saiz visita la Oficina de Movilidad Segura de Bogotá, clave para el reasentamiento de personas refugiadas

The Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration of Spain, Elma Saiz, has visited the Office of Safe Mobility of Bogotá (Colombia). This initiative of the Government of the United States and Colombia, coordinated by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), aims at the resettlement of particularly vulnerable refugees or migrants.

The governments of Spain, the US and Canada signed a trilateral agreement, dated May 3, 2023, to deepen the commitment to promote safe, orderly, regular migration based on humanitarian principles from Latin America. This agreement, which includes the Secure Mobility Offices, is part of the set of policies promoted by the Government of Spain in the last five years with the aim of promoting the employability and inclusion of migrants and refugees who arrive in our country, especially those who suffer persecution for political, religious or other reasons that put their integrity and that of their families at risk.

In this regard, the Office of Safe Mobility of Bogotá, which Minister Saiz visited on Thursday, is key to the protection of human rights. Currently there are offices in Colombia, Guatemala, Ecuador and Costa Rica.

“I am deeply proud to visit and see at first hand the great work that is done from this Office of Safe Mobility in Bogotá and the positive impact that this type of initiative has on the most vulnerable people who launch themselves out of their homes, away from their families, with the aim of saving their lives and looking for a future. Their role is crucial to protect the rights of migrants, facilitating their adaptation and participation in the society that will welcome them,” said Saiz.

Thanks to the Secure Mobility Offices, Spain hosted almost 200 Nicaraguan people from Costa Rica in December. In addition, thanks to the complementary resettlement routes, based on employability as well as vulnerability, these people arrived in Spain with an employment contract at a renewable energy company located in Castilla y León, “so that we combine the protection of people who need it, employment in sectors of difficult coverage and territorial structuring,” said Saiz.