Smoke, a brothel, garbage, abandonment, bars and video surveillance, this is what they will experience migrant minors until they reach the center of the hill La Cantueñalocated between two gigantic industrial zones south of Madrid, during its first months in Spain.
Places where life happens while working and where people leave after finishing their day. It’s during working hours, because afterwards it’s a place where time stops, far from any trace of civilization.
For example, the nearest health center is 8.1 kilometers away, and the nearest institute is five and a half kilometers away. A reality faced by minors who have already entered the center this week.
Mohamed Tabit knows well what it is like to go through a reception center. He arrived in Spain at the age of 16, crossing the sea by boat. Today he is 22 years old and works as a baker in Madrid. “I experienced the same thing in Casa de Campo, I was far from everything. You wouldn’t say we are animals, but you would say we are animals. The same story repeats itself, very difficult for someone to integrate like this“, he assures.
Experts wonder if it is easy to integrate while being far from the society in which you will live. “In the polygon they are deprived of their freedomthey don’t learn from the community in which they live,” says Rusly Cachina Esapá, equality and social integration technician at Migrantia.
Even though it’s difficult and they have everything against them, Mohamed Tabit did it: “I appreciate everything I have and I hope these children have a good future.”
