MADRID, September 13 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Ministry of the Interior has agreed with the Government of the Canary Islands to study improvements in the exchange of information on immigration matters and, in addition, both administrations are committed to finding a date to convene a Security Board. The regional Executive has insisted on the need to establish a single command, following the increase in the arrival of migrants to the islands.
The acting Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, and the Minister of the Presidency, Public Administration, Justice and Security of the Government of the Canary Islands, Nieves Lady Barreto, held a working meeting this Wednesday to address “mechanisms to reinforce coordination on safety matter”.
As Interior sources explain to Europa Press, the meeting took place in an “extremely cordial atmosphere, and consensus, institutional loyalty and the search for agreements have presided over the meeting.”
“They have agreed on the need to study improvements in the exchange of information on immigration matters and the intention of both administrations is that, once these initiatives advance, a Security Board will be convened in the Canary Islands,” the aforementioned sources added.
In this sense, both officials have agreed to reactivate the periodic coordination meetings between the Canary Islands Police and the State Security Forces and Bodies in the Autonomous Community, as well as to create a working group to analyze the improvement in shared access to bases. of police data.
COORDINATION OF SEVEN MINISTRIES
The president of the Government of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, has been demanding for days that the Executive of Pedro Sánchez – to whom he sent a letter – enables a “single command” to manage the migration crisis that the archipelago is suffering and is capable of bringing together the work of the ministries.
After meeting with Grande-Marlaska in Madrid, the Minister of the Presidency, Public Administrations, Justice and Security of the Government of the Canary Islands, Nieves Lady Barreto, has focused on this figure and on the call for the Security Board.
“The single command makes it easier for us not to have to knock on the door of seven ministries, but the decision belongs to the President of the Government and what we have insisted on the minister is that he intercede to be able to do it,” Barreto said this Wednesday in statements to the media. .
The counselor has conveyed the current concern within the Canary Islands Executive for not having “first-hand” information on migration matters and for not being a participant in the coordination meetings on this matter. “We want to be there and be part of it, and we will start working from Monday,” she said.
Regarding financing for the shelter of unaccompanied minors, Barreto has expressed that currently the islands are “overwhelmed” by the situation and therefore they ask the Executive that the available funds be transferred to the Government of the Canary Islands to improve the centers and care for minors.
On September 5, the Canary Islands president held his “fruitful” meeting with another minister, the acting Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, José Luis Escrivá, to address the immigration situation of the archipelago.
Thus, he announced that the minister is preparing a “flexible reception system” that allows “attention to peaks” of immigration. Clavijo also explained that both administrations share the need for planning to address the “foreseeable” increase in migration by sea.
Most of the migrants who arrived in Spain in an irregular situation between January 1 and August 31, 2023, a total of 21,025, did so by sea, 22.5% more (3,855 more) than in the same countries. months of the previous year, when 17,170 were counted. The number of boats also increased, from 902 to 992, almost 10% more.
Of the total number of those who entered Spain by sea, 9,409 arrived in the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, which represents an increase of 48% (3,050 more), and 11,439 arrived in the Canary Islands, 7.5% more (802 more), according to official data from the Ministry of the Interior. Including land entries, irregular migration increased 14.6% through August, compared to the same month last year.
