SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE 19 December (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Minister for Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, expressed his concerns this Thursday about Junts’ backing for the decree law that the Canary Islands Government has proposed to the central Executive to ease the reception of unaccompanied migrant minors. Simultaneously, he lamented that the PP has “put on hold” the revision of article 35 of the immigration legislation.
“The foremost task is to ascertain if Junts will support the proposal put forward by the Government of the Canary Islands, whether Clavijo and Junts are able to confirm their backing for that document. Subsequently, once that document reaches me, what I will do is, of course, pass it to the legal services to prepare the necessary reports,” he stated in an interview with ‘Televisión Canaria’, as reported by Europa Press.
The minister clarified that his Government has been collaborating with Junts “for quite some time, for many weeks”, on various issues, including the General State Budgets, the delegation of authority regarding immigration, matters related to Social Security, and amendments to article 35, which, for now, remain without consensus. “At present, we do not have Junts’ support,” he remarked.
He emphasized that the Government seeks a solution that is “legally indisputable”, which will also need to be taken to Congress, either as legislation or as a decree; in the latter scenario, it would only apply “for one year” and for “a limited number of minors”.
Concerning the PP’s stance, he expressed disappointment over their decision “not to endorse anything” and to turn their “back” on negotiations, despite holding the presidency of the majority of autonomous communities, Ceuta, and Melilla. “We find this incomprehensible,” he added.
Torres mourned the loss of four migrants making their way to the islands, highlighting “the tragedy of the migratory phenomenon”, and raised concerns about the differing responses afforded to a “black” migrant compared to a white refugee from Ukraine.
“If they are white, they are provided with buses to facilitate their journey to their territories; if they are black, the response is to deny an admission process for a bill that would enable them to reach their communities. This is as clear and regrettable as it gets,” he explained.
