The Government Delegation to Austria has helped with the coordination of Catalonia amb els refugiats (Catalonia with the refugees), a solidarity campaign which gathers donated supplies and delivers them to refugee camps across Eastern Europe.

 

The campaign is organised by the New Catalans Foundation (Nous Catalans), Barcelona Acció Solidària and Bombers de Barcelona, the capital’s fire department, and counts with the cooperation of many Catalan entities, organisations and local businesses to collect provisions for Syrian and other refugees during their passage through Europe as a result of internal displacement.

 

 

 

 

Due to the high level of public participation in these donations, the collection has surpassed forecasted estimates with a total of 70 tons of material, which began its journey to Slovenia at the end of last week. Among the collected items were blankets, sleeping bags, warm clothes, tents and winter footwear.

 

The Government Delegation in Vienna has responded to the high demand from Catalonia’s civil society to take direct action and has facilitated contact between the Catalan organisations, the Slovenian authorities and Slovenska Filantropija, the NGOs receiving the material. Additionally, the Government’s delegate in Austria, Adam Casals, personally travelled to Slovenia this weekend to provide support and thank the campaign organisers for the successful coordination of the operation.