The first time I entered the Welcome Africa website, I couldn't help but get stuck in the "Subsidies and grants" section, so many years as a Spaniard of Senegalese origin, so many years of constantly justifying myself because my very existence was a challenge to the minds of so many. Thus, I was trapped in the myths, hoaxes, attacks and rubber bullets that my community received just for existing: "immigrants live on subsidies", "immigrants steal our jobs", "they only give subsidies to immigrants", ideas of others that resonated in my mind, constructions that had to be deconstructed because they were formulated from hatred and the tactic of dividing in order to govern and control more easily. Because as cliché as it may be, yes, my friends, unity really is strength.
Why do migrants receive support, and what justifies giving them support?
Let us start at the beginning. Immigration and international movements are intrinsic to human societies. Eric Wolf, in "Europe and the people without history", details how since the beginning of humanity there have been displacements between continents: for climatic and ecological reasons, trade, wars, slavery, colonisation and migration. So we start from the premise that the migrant does not have to stay in his country and has every right in the world to leave in search of a better place, or simply to change of scenery if he feels like it, not everything has to be a question of necessity, since a Spanish migrant of Spanish origin can go to Dublin because he wants to or because it suits him, but a Moroccan or Senegalese migrant can only come out of necessity?
That said, if they come here out of necessity, as is often the case, why are they deserving of aid if there are also poor Spaniards?
First, ask yourselves and find out why many African countries are impoverished and what role Spain may have played in the impoverishment of other African and Latin American countries.
Secondly, subsidies have clear requirements and in no case are they given as gifts or handouts. Much less do they depend on nationality. They are usually linked to the socio-economic situation, income, basic expenses of the family unit, dependents, etc.
Ultimately, as a general rule, when one individual receives help before another, it is because they are in a more precarious situation. What is the real problem for you, that help is given to those who need it or that we live in a world full of resources and yet there are so many people who need help?