«Our house, your house »?
Conditions and paths of access to housing for asylum seekers and refugees in Catalonia
Access to housing has become one of the main problems of our refugee reception system. This project has had a double contribution. At the academic level, the project has contributed to theoretical analyses and debates on the trajectories of integration of asylum seekers and refugees, introducing a multi-level perspective that takes into account the interrelationship between structures, policies and practices and with a view from southern Europe. At the social level, the project has been able to influence both refugee reception policies and more generic housing policies.
The research has had numerous outputs, which have been published in real time on CIDOB’s website. First of all, key public policy outcomes and recommendations were gathered in CIDOB’s Monograph No. 77, under the title «Casa nostra, casa vostra»? Condicions i trajectòries d’accés a l’habitatge de sol·licitants d’asil i refugiats a Catalunya, as well as in the chapter “Acceso a la vivienda y trayectorias residenciales de los solicitantes y beneficiarios de protección internacional: el caso de Cataluña” included in the publication Sobre los solicitantes y beneficiarios de protección internacional. Informe Nacional para España, NIEM 2020.
On the other hand, two academic articles have been prepared: “Between discipline and neglect: The regulation of asylum accommodation in Spain”, co-authored by Lorenzo Gabrielli, Blanca Garcés-Mascareñas and Olatz Ribera-Almandoz and proposed to Journal of Refugee Studies; and “Our home, your home? The Precarious Housing Pathways of asylum seekers in Catalonia”, co-authored by Olatz Ribera-Almandoz, Carlos Delclós and Blanca Garcés-Mascareñas and proposed to Journal of Housing Studies. Both articles are currently in the process of being evaluated for publication.
Another major contribution of the project has been the organization of two working seminars that have served as spaces for discussion for the main actors involved, from public administrations and technical staff in different reception programs to academics who are experts in the field, entities and social movements. The seminars were entitled: “Accés a l’habitatge per a sol·licitants d’asil: trajectòries i reptes”, held at CIDOB on February 25, 2020, and “Migració i Sensellarisme: Escenaris durant i després de la pandèmia”, conducted online on November 24, 2020. The conclusions of this last seminar will soon be published in CIDOB Briefing format on CIDOB’s website.
In addition, in order to reach a wider audience, a number of short-form outreach publications have been elaborated, as set out in this section.
Former researchers involved in the project:
Olatz Ribera-Almandoz
