The autonomous community has 2,869 minors under guardianship in fifty emergency centers open since 2019
SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Feb. 15 (EUROPE PRESS) –
The Minister of Social Rights of the Government of the Canary Islands, Noemí Santana, has launched this Tuesday a cry of “help” and “help” to guarantee the attention to migrant minors in the islands that until now add up to a total of 2,869 under guardianship.
“The situation is extreme”, he pointed out in an appearance in a parliamentary committee in which he warned that “there is not a single more position” and the economic and human resources “are very scarce”, in such a way that if it is not put immediate remedy to this situation, care will not be able to be the same as it has been up to now.
“Our concern is that in the future the attention will be reduced, we are not going to allow it, we will go as far as we have to go,” he indicated.
Santana has insisted that the Canary Islands are experiencing an “unprecedented migratory crisis” and never before have they had so many unaccompanied minors in foster care, with just over 2,300 in the 50 emergency centers opened by the autonomous community and 566 in the hands of the councils. .
By islands, it has detailed that in Gran Canaria there are 1,421 minors in autonomous centers and 200 under the tutelage of the Cabildo; in Tenerife, 117 and 609 respectively; in Fuerteventura, 23 and 168 and in Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro, a total of 191, 30, 5 and 55, all in autonomous community facilities.
The counselor has lamented the “lack of collaboration” of some municipalities of the islands to open centers and has also criticized the lack of “solidarity” of the rest of the autonomous communities, which have only welcomed 298 minors.
He pointed out that the Canarian Government “has resorted to all avenues” to claim before the State and the European Union (EU) “a responsible distribution” of minors at a time of “humanitarian emergency” and given that the Canary Islands are a “southern border” of Spain and Europe and it seems that “no one remembers it”.
Santana has pointed out that the compulsory distribution of minors is weighed down by a “legal loophole” and the difficulties in carrying out the protocol in the interterritorial commission in the face of the “obstacles” put up by some autonomous communities.
However, he hopes that the Canary Islands-State bilateral commission “will be very useful” in “being able to shed light and establish what criteria” is followed.
In addition, he has said that they have asked the Ministry of the Interior to allow a first evaluation “on the coast” to technicians from the NGO Save The Children to determine the age -Interior has rejected it and they will request it again- because “it would relieve enough pressure”, as there are up to 1,280 minors pending tests to prove their age.
SPEED UP BONE TESTING
In this sense, he has valued the predisposition of the Government Delegation to speed up the bone tests.
Santana has also said that he is still waiting to meet with the Minister of Migration, José Luis Escrivá, and although they have not managed to get the Canary Islands to receive FAMI funds from the EU, yes, for this 2022 there are 50 million in the PGE for the attention to the migrations.
Teresa Cruz (PSOE) has commented that attention to unaccompanied minors “is a political issue with capital letters” and there are regulatory frameworks that can bind the autonomous communities, such as the Children’s Forum or the Children’s Sector Conference.
He has said that “the protection of minors” must always prevail and he wonders why “the first filter” cannot be done through the NGO Save the Children, as is done in other territories.
Vidina Espino, spokesperson for the Mixed Group, has recognized that the reception system is “saturated” and the situation is “unaffordable”, with a “lukewarm reception” from the rest of the autonomous communities, for which he has demanded that they go to a ” legal obligation”.
He has pointed out that the law must be “changed” in Congress and PSOE and United We Can have “the capacity to reach majorities”, and questioned why there are so many minors in Gran Canaria in relation to the rest of the islands. “Much more can be done,” he has commented.
Jesús Ramos (ASG) has commented that a “real commitment” is needed from the State, the EU and the rest of the communities so that there is “co-responsibility” in the care of migrant minors, whose arrivals will continue over time. “This situation is one of the main problems in the Canary Islands,” he added.
María del Río (Yes We Can) has highlighted the “immense effort” of the Ministry and the Government to “protect” minors in the midst of the pandemic crisis, although she has warned that infrastructure and human and material resources are lacking.
He has proposed being “brave” and going back to using hotels or being “realistic” and understanding that the Canary Islands, being a border area, must be helped with co-responsibility by the State, the European Union and the rest of the autonomous communities.
PRESIDENTS CONFERENCE
Luis Campos (NC) has recognized that the reception systems “are stressed” and hopes that the acceleration of the tests to determine the age of majority will alleviate the pressure, but he has highlighted that “this is not the solution”, which goes through co-responsibility of all institutions to manage reception and referral.
In this line, he has said that the Conference of Presidents of La Palma is the best occasion to demand distributions.
Poli Suárez (PP) has said that the situation “is not controlled” in the Canary Islands, among other things, because there are no resources in Immigration, and he wonders how they have calculated that there are more than 1,300 elderly people in the centers if the age tests.
In his opinion, “where it is necessary to talk” about this issue is in the Conference of Presidents and not in the bilateral commission.
Cristina Valido (CC-PNC) has recognized the “effort” of the technicians of the Ministry to guarantee the reception of migrant minors and of the councils and municipalities, who “have eaten this alone for a long time” due to the “incomprehension ” of the State.
He has commented that the canaries are “used” to the “loneliness” of the central government, giving as an example that “nothing has changed” since 2020 when the Ministry of Social Rights announced a reception protocol.
Valido has demanded that the State refer the minors and that the counselor “do not wait” for solidarity.
