Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 18 Mar. (Europa Press) –
The ratification of the amendment to article 35 of the Immigration Law, sanctioned on Tuesday by the Council of Ministers through a Decree-Law, stipulates that the Autonomous Communities must now establish their capacity limits. This will be calculated by dividing the total population of each community as of December 31 of the preceding year by the quotient achieved by dividing the total population of Spain by the highest number of unaccompanied minors under the Spanish protection system.
In this scenario, the Canary Islands have come to the forefront of discussion with a total of 5,810 unaccompanied migrants spread across 86 centres within the islands—when the current legislature commenced, only thirty minors were reported.
Furthermore, up to eight centres are currently accommodating over 100 unaccompanied foreign minors each—while recommendations suggest a cap of 20—one centre hosts as many as 330 minors, another has 248, and there are two others housing 201 and 180 respectively.
Nevertheless, the average occupancy stands at approximately 60 minors per accommodation resource, according to data gathered by Europa Press from the Canarian government.
In response to the influx, the Autonomous Community has also established additional specialised centres, bringing the total to 35 facilities for children under 12 years of age and a further 26 centres exclusively for women, culminating in a total of 374 facilities across the archipelago.
According to the decree law, minors must be relocated to another autonomous community within a maximum timeframe of 15 days when the reception network reaches triple its capacity. In the Canary Islands, it is anticipated that the process for minors already situated in the archipelago will require several months to effectively accommodate all the varying circumstances that arise.
The challenges in ensuring adequate reception have led to the compilation of a report by Amnesty International, which highlights “violence and excessive sanctions” occurring in the Centres within the Canary Islands, along with certain incidents—albeit infrequent thus far—that have escalated to the Prosecutor’s Office. Meanwhile, a response plan involving 39 social and administrative workers has been implemented to accelerate and enhance management.
