Torres insists that there must be mandatory co-responsibility for the care of unaccompanied minors
Escrivá announces, after the efforts of both governments, new EU funds for the archipelago due to the added effort in immigration care
The president of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, received this morning the Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, José Luis Escrivá, at the Presidency headquarters of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on the occasion of the signing of the agreement between the autonomous Government and the Central executive to improve care for migrants who arrive on the coasts of the islands for a value of 50 million euros.
At the event, attended by the Minister of Social Rights, Equality, Diversity and Youth, Noemí Santana, and the delegate of the Government in the Canary Islands, Anselmo Pestana, the head of the regional Executive recalled that the item being channeled today was included for the first once in the 2022 state budgets and “it can be allocated to the care of minors during this year and 2023. These resources seek to improve the stay and care of these people on the islands,” Torres said.
Both the president and the minister gave details of the agreement, which establishes care for national migrants from third countries hosted in centers managed by the Autonomous Community; health actions aimed at national migrants from third countries developed in the shared management centers of the Government of the Canary Islands and the Ministry, including those activities to care for people affected by covid quarantine protocols, and actions to improve the possibilities of socio-labor insertion of young people former guardians, an aspect included with the change in the Immigration Law a year ago, which reinforces this area, according to Escrivá. Actions in countries of origin may also be financed to prevent irregular migration.
Mandatory solidarity
Torres indicated that, although the agreement at the sectoral table for the distribution of almost 700 minors arriving in the Canary Islands among the rest of the autonomous communities is "a great step, because until now there was only voluntary solidarity", a change of the law in the Cortes so that mandatory co-responsibility is established that allows a distribution adjusted to the population and the characteristics of the territories and that also has sufficient resources.
The president of the Canary Islands recalled that, of those almost 700 minors, 208 have already been redistributed, while the rest will be distributed between this year and 2023. However, he considers that it is still insufficient and that a regulatory change is required that is difficult to be approved in the remainder of the state legislature. Of course, he believes it is essential, as soon as possible, and, like the minister, he criticizes the demagoguery of various parties on migration. “Politics is to seek solutions to problems and there are people who criticize the current establishments to serve migrants, but they do not provide alternatives. If you say what you feel and you mean what you say, surely there are municipal facilities that can be transferred, as is the case in Arrecife, since other mayors have already done that before, when others governed.” In his opinion, “there is too much demagoguery, populism and political opportunism and there is a lack of solidarity and sensitivity.”
Minister Escrivá stressed that, with this, he has already made four visits to the Canary Islands in three years, “the community that he has visited the most as a minister.” According to him, he remarked, “this agreement is the result of very fine work between the Ministry and the Ministry. “It represents a clear recognition by the Government of Spain of the added tasks that the Canary Islands have in the field of migration due to the challenge of being so close to Africa, an effort that is materialized in the enormous unique burden that the islands have with the guardianship of minors. unaccompanied, more than 2.200 now, an absolutely unique situation in Spain.”
In addition, he maintained that, together with the Ministry, the Government of Spain has worked with the European authorities on "the uniqueness of the Canary Islands, so that in the next community budgets there are significant amounts to support the expenses of the Canary Islands with unaccompanied minors", with funding through the EU Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF).
Torres: “The Department of Social Rights is doing exemplary work”
Torres recalled that, in 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, 700% more migrants arrived in the Canary Islands (from 2.000 people it went up to almost 24.000). In 2022, 600 fewer people have arrived by sea than in 2021, but he stressed that this is a phenomenon that will continue due to factors such as famines, wars in Africa, the effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine or desertification due to change. climate.
For this reason, the president considers this mandatory solidarity to be key, so that the burden of irregular migration does not fall only on the border territories, "as Spain is demanding from the EU on the occasion of the Pact on Migration and Asylum." Likewise, he highlighted the “exemplary work” of the Department of Social Rights, directed by Noemí Santana, since “it immediately assists any migrant who says they are a minor without verifying whether that is true or not, something that does not happen in other communities.” . This makes it clear that here we put the welfare state and social rights before anyone who needs it."
The president also alluded to the fact that, upon coming to power in 2019, all migration resources had been dismantled by the Rajoy governments, while now there are fifty of them.
