SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 10 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Minister in charge of Youth and Childhood, Sira Rego, has voiced her optimism that during the Sectoral Conference on Childhood and Adolescence scheduled for this afternoon, “common sense will prevail” and that there will be a willingness to propose a revision of article 35 of the Immigration Law that will establish an “efficient, sustainable mechanism ensuring the rights of unaccompanied minors.”
In an interview with Televisión Canaria, as reported by Europa Press, the minister is uncertain about the likelihood of an agreement to amend the Law, but she emphasised that the Government “is exerting all efforts, implementing mechanisms and activating pre-existing ones, addressing the migration issue as a fundamental and evolving phenomenon, necessitating a fundamental reform proposing a mandatory and supportive mechanism encompassing all regions of our nation.”
Sira Rego recognised that the Canary Islands are grappling with a “challenging” situation, looking after almost 6,000 children, and stated that Spain, with a population of 49 million, has the “ample capacity” to accommodate these minors “if we implement a mandatory and supportive distribution, taking into account the rights of children.” “We can manage the migration issue in a very rational manner, prioritising the fact that these are children who are unaccompanied and in a vulnerable situation, hence the involvement of all autonomous communities is imperative,” she added.
However, the minister clarified that the Sectoral Conference will solely address the consensus reached between the central government and the Canary Islands government, advocating for a fundamental reform to establish stability, generate financial adequacy to enhance control and safeguard the rights of children, and it will be the Congress of Deputies that ultimately decides on the revision of article 35 of the Immigration Law.
With regards to the stance of the Popular Party and Vox, the minister recalled that the regions they govern obstructed a month ago the operation of this voluntary distribution, in effect since 2022, and highlighted that the proposed mechanism is “identical” for amending article 35 of the Law, allowing the reception of minors across all territories, provided voluntary reception “proves ineffective”.
Rego pointed out that 80% of the transfers in 2023 have not been executed by the autonomous communities and emphasised that a region like Madrid, with a population of 7 million, which was supposed to take in 34 minors, “has not fulfilled its obligations despite having the resources and funding from the State already at its disposal.” “Consequently, what is necessary is a collective, supportive approach across all regions,” she reiterated.
Regarding funding, the minister declared that the existing mechanism already encompassed “satisfactory funding” for the autonomous communities, however, “compliance with the voluntary reception policy has been lacking.” “Therefore, amending article 35 is proposed as it is vital to equip this mechanism with adequate funding.”
“The Government has carried out its preparations and now it awaits the outcome of the parliamentary process. In a sense, the ball is in the court of the Popular Party, which must address its contradictions, as some days they oppose the reform and on other days they appear to support it. The Sectoral Conference marks the beginning; let us hope that a rational approach prevails and we can propose a reform to establish an efficient, sustainable mechanism guaranteeing the rights of children,” Rego stated.
Prior to the Sectoral Conference, participants will visit a facility for unaccompanied minors. The minister explained that the purpose of this visit is for Conference members to “witness firsthand the efforts being made by the Canary Islands and the importance of offering support, putting a human face to the realities of children arriving unaccompanied.”
