Migration is a major political issue for Europe, fuelling a resurgence of far right parties across the continent.
With anti-immigration sentiment on the rise, people from Africa often face racism and rejection when they arrive in Spain.
Some groups though are offering a helping hand. Our correspondent Ken Browne reports from Madrid.
#spain #immigration #africa
With anti-immigration sentiment on the rise, people from Africa often face racism and rejection when they arrive in Spain.
Some groups though are offering a helping hand. Our correspondent Ken Browne reports from Madrid.
#spain #immigration #africa
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NewsTranscript
00:00Kanji comes from Gambia and is 18 years old.
00:06Like many young African migrants, he risked his life to get to Europe, but lost his brother
00:12on the way.
00:13I got a boat from Senegal to Canaria with my friends and my brother.
00:20He died.
00:21He died.
00:22We have a lot of days in a boat and after he tired, and I think too much cold, he tired
00:34that.
00:35I think that's why he died.
00:38Four people died on the nine-day journey.
00:42But even those who survive face a new world of difficulties.
00:47Kanji was lucky to meet Emilia.
00:49She got to know the kids living in a children's center in Madrid while walking her dog, but
00:58was shocked when she learned that one of the boys was sent out to fend for himself when
01:02he turned 18.
01:05How could they leave a young boy of 18, who looked like he's about 15 years old, out on
01:10the streets on his own?
01:12I took him home and that's how we started to shelter these boys.
01:17There are over 1,100 centers for minors housing over 15,000 young migrants around Spain.
01:26This center in Hortaleza was built to house 35 people, but some of the residents tell
01:30us that as many as 120 can sleep there on mattresses in the corridors sometimes.
01:37The problem is that when they turn 18, they have nowhere to go and many can be found sleeping
01:42in parks like this one here.
01:44This is where Emilia's journey began.
01:48Her NGO helps people like Kanji Babacar Anabdul with shelter, food, Spanish language classes,
01:55and with processing their papers so they can work legally.
01:59The NGO receives no official funding and survives on donations.
02:05Since the far right began with their anti-migrant messages, we've seen a real rise in racism.
02:14Spain wasn't like this before.
02:18These boys are like my children.
02:21To these politicians, I would say, come and learn, meet them, and get to know them.
02:28I would tell them to learn some respect.
02:35For Kanji, the feeling is mutual.
02:38Emilia is just like my mom.
02:40I will never forget her, inshallah, in my life.
02:44Thanks to Emilia and her organization, he can keep dreaming.
02:48My dream is to be a footballer and to play Barcelona like, yeah.
02:54Ken Brown, CTTN.