The President, Fernando Clavijo, believes that the impact on border areas could lead to “rights being sidelined.”
The governments of the Canary Islands and Euskadi have expressed their concerns, stating that just one week before the European Migration and Asylum Pact comes into force, there are “more uncertainties and doubts than certainties” regarding its implementation, impact, and, crucially, the guarantees it offers to migrants.
According to the Canary Islands’ President, Fernando Clavijo, the application of this agreement could represent a step backward for the principles of the European Union, particularly with serious negative effects for the Canary Islands, which serve as the entry point to Europe for African migration. He expressed concern about the solidarity mechanisms outlined in the pact that allow “wealthy countries to pay” to evade their responsibilities for hosting migrants, which could result in a “poor or border Europe where human rights, dignity, care, or children’s rights are relegated.” He warned that it could lead to becoming “centres of detention.”
Clavijo inaugurated the conference titled “European Migration and Asylum Pact: Challenges and Uncertainties Ahead of Its Imminent Implementation” in Madrid on Friday. The event was organised by the Government of the Canary Islands and the Basque Government, with participation from around 50 NGOs and organisations that assist migrants across Spain to analyse the implications of this text, which will take effect on 12 June.
This date coincides with the historic visit of Pope Leo XIII to the islands, which aims to shed light on the Atlantic Route. Therefore, the head of the Government expects this visit to help promote respect for human rights and solidarity with people migrating in search of a better future. Currently, the Canary Islands are caring for nearly 3,000 children in their facilities. Over the past five years, a total of 165,000 people have entered Europe via the islands.
President Clavijo reiterated that the application of the EU Migration and Asylum Pact could lead to increased pressure on border regions and criticised Brussels for not consulting the Canary Islands in the drafting of this document, nor has the Spanish Government involved them in the design of national plans for its implementation.
The event, organised by Islas Responsables Lab (IRLab) of the Government of the Canary Islands in collaboration with the Department of Welfare, Youth, and Demographic Challenge of the Basque Government, was held at the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid and featured experts who highlighted that the European Pact contains inaccuracies and gaps that may hinder its application. A similar meeting took place in April at Casa África with organisations from the islands, and it was decided to host this session in Madrid due to the interest of entities amid the lack of information about the expected impact of the document’s implementation.
Clavijo stressed this point, indicating that the Pact arrives with “too many uncertainties,” especially in the Canary Islands, as regulations like the Triage Regulation allow migrants to remain on the islands for up to six months, whereas currently the duration is generally around one month. This situation complicates the management of migration in an outermost and fragmented territory like the archipelago, which already faces significant migratory pressure and could see its resources stretched, leading to increased strain on public employees and NGOs.
The Canary Islands president also took the opportunity to thank the Basque Government, NGOs, and entities from the third sector for their support, especially for joining the fight in Brussels to demand that the EU Migration and Asylum Pact includes a European agreement for the safe distribution of unaccompanied minor migrants, not only among Spanish communities but also among member states. He criticised the ongoing failure to “distinguish legal realities to ensure the greatest dignity for these children and differentiate them from adults.”
Changes on the Playing Field
Meanwhile, the Basque Government’s Minister for Welfare, Youth and Demographic Challenge, Nerea Melgosa, emphasised that the European Migration and Asylum Pact “will change the playing field.” Faced with this scenario, “it is not enough to know the general outline of the new rules. We need to understand what the specific rules will be—who will assume what responsibilities, with what resources, timelines, procedures, guarantees, and what role the autonomous communities will play.”
She stated that Euskadi “does not seek privileges, but clarity” on how the European Pact will be implemented in the state, the role of the autonomous communities, the resources that will be made available regarding legal assistance, the protection of vulnerable individuals—especially children and adolescents—as well as the duration of stay, referrals, cross-border coordination, and funding.
Most importantly, as echoed by the Canary Islands president, the Basque minister requested participation in decisions affecting their public services and community cohesion. Therefore, she insisted, migration policy “cannot be designed from a centralised logic disconnected from territorial realities,” as decisions made in Europe and Madrid have very tangible consequences in the Canary Islands and Euskadi.
“Canarias represents the southern border, and Euskadi the northern border, because migratory routes do not end at the first point of arrival. This migrating population generates needs across different territories and demands coordinated, coherent, and sustainable responses,” Nerea Melgosa asserted.
Euskadi is already shouldering a significant portion of the response and “cannot rely on uncertainty.” She expressed concern that, on the brink of the Pact’s application, “we continue to work based on hypotheses” without precise knowledge of how state norms will adapt. The Basque representative stated that “solidarity cannot just be a pretty word; it must have an agenda, budget, governance, and shared responsibility.”
She highlighted that Euskadi has a Reception Model based on proper scaling, planning, inter-institutional coordination, third sector participation, community closeness, coexistence, and comprehensive support. “Our model,” she noted, “is not improvisation. It is not a scramble of figures. We do not want to learn about decisions affecting our institutions, our neighbourhoods, and our public services through the media.” The Basque model, she concluded, is “yes to reception, no to improvisation. Yes to solidarity, no to unilateralism. Yes to coordination, no to uncertainty.”
With just one week until the European Migration and Asylum Pact takes effect, she remarked, “we ask again for information, participation, and clarity. We do so from a position of responsibility, from experience, from institutional loyalty, and from firmness.” This is because the people arriving, seeking protection, the entities supporting them, the institutions managing, and the citizens coexisting “deserve certainties. They do not deserve improvisation or silence.” She moreover reminded that “reception is not only measured in spaces but in rights.”
Conference
The conference, titled “European Migration and Asylum Pact: Challenges and Uncertainties Ahead of Its Imminent Implementation,” was structured into two panels examining the regulatory framework and its real-world application in the current migration context in Spain, as well as human rights in the new agreement.
The forum included the presence of the Commissioner for Immigration and Borders of the Canary Islands Police, José Antonio Ayuso; the Director of CEAR, Mauricio Valiente; the Director of ACCEM, Enrique Barbero; the Coordinator of the Political Incidence and Alliances Department of CEPAIM, Rubén Romero Masegosa; the Director of Influence and Territorial Development at Save the Children, Catalina Perazzo; and the Senior Researcher at the Real Instituto Elcano, Carmen González Enríquez.
The Spanish Government declined the invitation to attend this working session organised by the governments of the Canary Islands and Euskadi in Madrid. Clavijo lamented that the autonomous communities had not been consulted. “We continue without tools or instructions on how to tackle this situation” from 12 June. This absence, asserted Fernando Clavijo, “does not help.”
Commissioner Ayuso focused his remarks on technical aspects, particularly regarding triage processes connected to the arrival of precarious boats to the Canary coasts and the proposals outlined in the European Pact. He detailed the timelines and locations for the triage, as well as its modalities and phases.
From the Elcano Institute, Carmen González discussed the transformation of the European political climate surrounding immigration since the approval of the Pact in 2024, alongside the increasing severity of migration policies within member states and the EU, along with the heightened pressure to externalise the management of asylum applicants.
Masegosa centred his intervention on return policies under the pact; alternatives to detention, and Spain’s particularities and opportunities in the implementation of the agreement among the 27 countries.
Mauricio Valiente from CEAR focused on access to the asylum process, border procedures, and protection statuses. He provided a comparative analysis of the legislation and offered insights on the potential opportunities the Pact could present.
Catalina Perazzo from Save the Children addressed the protective needs of migrant children, the child-focused aspects of the European Migration and Asylum Pact, and the associated opportunities and risks of its implementation in Spain and Europe.
ACCEM’s Director, Enrique Barbero, emphasised the welcoming features of Spain and highlighted that they tend to be more beneficial for applicants and beneficiaries of international protection than other models in the EU. Now, this must adapt to the provisions of the new reception directive outlined in the pact.
