SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 24 May. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The president of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, has affirmed that there is no “possible, signable or real agreement” that prevents the migratory phenomenon and has stressed that although mechanisms can be activated that contribute to more vigilance, to think that any agreement going to stop something that is part of humanity is a “chimera”.
This was stated in response to a question from the spokesman for the Canarian Nationalist Group, Pablo Rodríguez, about the evolution of the migratory crisis in the Canary Islands after Spain’s agreement with Morocco, noting that, according to the latest report from the Ministry of the Interior, the number of migrants arriving in the Canary Islands between January and May of this year has increased by 52.5% compared to the same period last year, and that there are NGOs that point out that in 2021 more than 4,000 people lost their lives on the so-called ‘Canarian route ‘.
In his response, Ángel Víctor Torres asked the nationalist deputy not to become political with the migratory phenomenon, as was done during the 2005 migration crisis and which he hopes the Canarian Nationalist Group will also do now.
In response to the president, Pablo Rodríguez denied that the Canarian Nationalist Group is playing politics with the migratory phenomenon and stressed that it is only showing its concern in the face of a humanitarian drama that concerns the entire Canarian society.
Pablo Rodríguez criticized that the Government of the Canary Islands “continues to live in a bubble thinking that this does not exist”, especially when there are still migrants who are living in the streets and in ravines of the island of Gran Canaria, as denounced by the nationalist deputy.
“You cannot shake off your responsibility or say that the State Government does not pay attention to you, because then you would be acknowledging that you do not paint a thing,” said Rodríguez, addressing the president, adding that this is “an issue that is not for politics, but to affirm that good politics is not going to put an end to migratory movements, but it is going to try to alleviate people who do not continue to die looking for a better future”.
Faced with these criticisms, Ángel Víctor Torres recalled that the Government of the Canary Islands, not being competent, made all its educational centers available to the Government of Spain for the reception of migrants during the pandemic, when there was no teaching activity; It has assisted 6,000 unaccompanied minors, and has launched 51 resources to assist them, when in 2019 there was “not a single one”.
Likewise, he stressed that in the months of April, March and May 600 fewer migrants have been registered when compared to the same period of the previous year. According to Torres, “I don’t know if it is the result of the agreement between Spain and Morocco, but hopefully that agreement is forged with better vigilance for irregular immigration, because the fewer people who board the boat there will be fewer deaths at sea.”
