The young man crossed the barrier in Ceuta three years ago and obtained recognition from Seville City Hall for his efforts, although today he faces several bureaucratic obstacles to obtain a work permit.
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Three years ago, Noutie Tchana Angelo Sylvio jumped the fence in Ceuta. On the third attempt he succeeded, and after crossing the border he did not look back. Cameroon was thousands of kilometers away, where his partner and his five-year-old daughter were waiting for him, whom he soon hoped to take with him when he finally obtained a work permit after hours and hours of training. Although he sleeps on the street, he is an ESO graduate, which is why Seville City Council recognized him during the central event of Homeless Week.
It is ironic to talk about public recognition when we are forced to survive in a system where fundamental rights are violated. Angelo, as they prefer to be called, smiles at the observation made during the conversation at the headquarters of the Choose Life association: “I am proud that my efforts were worth it because, even though I was studying on the street, I was able to show it to the world. Everything was difficult, but I never gave up and, here, they advised and motivated me, in fact, they bought me books so that I could continue.”
In front of the blue lockers where the homeless people the organization serves leave their suitcases and personal belongings, there are two tables joined together in the center of the room. Witnessing the long hours, he befriended Paco, a user who continues to write his book today, or other colleagues who didn’t understand why he was working hard to get a degree when the priority was finding work, at all costs. “I had in mind to work, but I didn’t have that opportunity,” he says, especially after his asylum application was rejected. Suddenly he found himself with nowhere to turn. A cousin who is still in Cameroon had already warned him of the bad weather he would face: “He told me that I expected everything, that I was going to suffer, but I didn’t have to be afraid.
Between the street and the shelters
The first thing was to learn the language, almost as well as the English he knows or his native French. “I noticed that if I wanted to stay in Spain, this would be the most important point and I started studying it in Ceuta and, even on the street, I continued learning on YouTube,” he remembers. With the door to international protection closed, he was unable to continue in the CEAR care center in Seville. In total, he spent eight months outside, leaving and entering shelters, such as the Miguel de Mañara center, the Nuevo Hogar Betania, the Accem shelter apartment or the SAMU Social company, where he is currently. Without giving up his efforts, he managed to obtain the title of handler and the license of forklift driver, but to improve his chances he had to enroll at the ESO and managed to enter the Center for Continuing Education Polígono Norte (Ceper).
As a taxi driver, he could have continued in Douala, his hometown, but the socio-political tensions in the country forced him to migrate. He also did not consider traveling to neighboring African states as a possibility: “in Nigeria there is no security and in Arab countries my black skin is considered as if it were white.” So, when he managed to cross the Strait of Gibraltar, he never thought that succeeding in secondary school would make his next step easier: accessing the alternating vocational training cycle which specialized him in air conditioners and refrigeration installations. Despite the enthusiasm that pushed him to climb higher and higher, the system once again put obstacles in his way.
The young Noutie Tchana Angelo Sylvio, at the headquarters of the Sevillian association Choose Life
The course allowed him to carry out commercial activities, which allowed him to access a pre-employment contract with which he applied for a residence and work permit. A procedure granted by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration within a maximum period of three months, but this time it lasted five months. “There are people waiting six, seven months, and my boss and I were desperate to wait… That’s probably why they’re telling me now that I have to wait,” he says. Due to this bureaucratic mess, he will have to delay all settlement procedures until January next year, “the businessman is not going to stay without filling the position”, he says, having resigned.
Vulnerable groups
“What I would ask of the administration is that it provides the documentation that we request and that it respects the deadlines, or that it does not ask us for documents that it knows that we will not obtain, such as the employment contract itself”, he affirms to the colleagues who listen to the conference. He also criticizes the excessive bureaucracy they demand from the contractor, fearing that he will regret at the last moment having decided to hire him. A statement with which Rafael Díaz, representative of Choose Life, agrees.
He sits down in front of the 26-year-old young man, whom he has accompanied for three years since his arrival in Spain, and takes his example as an additional incongruity of the current social protection system: “They subject vulnerable people to a horrible journey. » This is not just about Angelo, but about unprotected groups, for example, it refers to the endless waits of those asking for the minimum subsistence income, to the subsidies aimed at homeless people or to the migrants themselves who knock on their doors in search of support when they are refused a response from the institutional sphere.
The entity of which Rafael is a part was born in the Triana district at the end of the last century to help those suffering from the devastating effects of drug addiction. The spirit is preserved through different spaces with direct actions in the neighborhood. They no longer want to grow, because the 80 members who currently exist believe in community work, in close and targeted actions in each street surrounding the association’s headquarters. Around him, people come and go who welcome, greet, catch up on this December day and, taking care of Angelo, he admits that the relationship has deepened so much that he is now someone else in the family.
This year will end shortly and, with hope, the young Cameroonian awaits the resolution of the arraigo request. Thanks to this, he will be able to find a job at the end of the second year of professional training and, finally, have enough resources to access a house in Seville, his next goal, where he hopes to soon welcome his family.
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