SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, January 26. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Minister of Social Welfare of the Government of the Canary Islands, Candelaria Delgado, emphasized on Friday that the islands are currently responsible for 5,603 unaccompanied migrant minors, stressing the need for the central government to expedite referrals to other autonomous communities.
Speaking to journalists, she outlined plans to raise this issue at the Sectoral Conference on Children on Monday and during the forthcoming visit of the Minister of Children and Youth, Sira Rego, to the Canary Islands next Wednesday.
Delgado emphasized the necessity to discuss “the new distribution of migrant minors” for 2024 and a budget increase to facilitate distribution. She highlighted that the plans for 2023 could not be executed, except for in Aragon, Madrid, and Galicia.
An agreement for referrals was formalized with Aragón on Thursday, and negotiations with Madrid and Galicia are nearing completion.
Next Wednesday, they will present their legislative proposal at the national level to promote a “co-responsible distribution” among all autonomous communities, to be coordinated by the State itself, to both the minister and parliamentary groups.
The counselor expressed that “more than half” of the migrant minors in the archipelago should be redirected, initiating with just over 40 to Madrid and around thirty to Aragon and Galicia.
Delgado stated that regional governments “are willing to accept more,” but “they need financing” to open new centers, as current facilities, such as those in the Canary Islands, are “overcrowded.”
