Among the dozens of boats that arrive every day to the Canary Islands coasts, in addition to adults looking for a better life, many children travel. Increasingly. Since 2019, the Canary Islands have received more than 9,300 minors that when they set foot on Canary Islands they remain under the guardianship of the regional Executive until they reach the age of majority. Only between the months of August and September of this year, some 1,112 young people arrived. These figures, together with the rebound in the first days of October, have caused the reception centers on the Islands to be practically full and the Government has had to constantly open new places to be able to serve all those who arrive. “When we arrived we found 39 open devices, some in a deplorable state,” says the director of Child and Family Protection of the Canary Islands Government, Sandra Rodríguez, who assures that since July “about 20 devices have been opened” to be able to accommodate all minors. Currently, the Canary Islands protect more than 3,000 young migrants.
The 400 places managed by the councils are full, so the regional Executive has had to enable exceptional resources. This is stated in the declaration of social emergency presented by the vice president of the Canary Islands Government, Manuel Domínguez, last Friday. Where it is indicated that the Archipelago has already started the procedures to tender more than a thousand accommodation places. Just yesterday Rodríguez announced the opening of the Casa del Mar in Arrecife, in Lanzaroteas a new reception center for migrant minors.
From the department headed by Candelaria Delgado they assure that the distribution between the Canary provinces is “more or less equitable at the moment” and the highest percentage accumulates in the capital islands as they have more possibilities to open new spaces. For this reason, transfers from the smaller islands constantly occur so as not to saturate the resources. This is what has happened in The iron, since in the first ten days of October 2,620 migrants arrived on its shores, of which 482 were minors. «From there we have already taken some 442 young people and taken them to Gran Canaria and Tenerife“says Rodríguez, who assures that the rate of arrivals of minors to the Islands these days is around 100 a day.
The Canary Islands Executive demands that the State understand that this situation “exceeds the capabilities of any autonomous community” and this is what the counselor will convey today at the Sectoral Conference on Childhood and Adolescence that is being held to analyze the proposal for territorial distribution to the communities. of the fund destined to finance care for unaccompanied migrant minors in 2023. The idea is to comply with the agreement reached last year at the Sectoral Conference on Children, when the different administrations committed to transferring 340 minors in 2022 and 342 in 2023.
And since 2021, The other autonomous communities have only welcomed 365 minors who arrived in the Canary Islands, which represents only 4% of the total arrivals since 2019. In 2021, 209 minors were transferred, in 2022 only 17 and 120 this year. Rodríguez recognizes that these figures are not enough, but emphasizes that the problem is not in the solidarity of the communities, which exists, but in the actions of the State. “It is an issue of co-responsibility and the State has to be at the forefront and provide financing and planning to the communities for a better balanced distribution by territories,” says the director of Child Protection, who insists on not only looking towards Spain, but also towards Europe so that it takes responsibility for what is happening on its borders.
Apart from transfers, the ministry demands that the first controls in the Temporary Care Centers for Foreigners (CATE) be more “clear and effective” to prevent adults from occupying spaces in the reception centers for minors. “We are receiving many elderly people and we need the reviews to be as exhaustive as possible, especially to ensure the safety of minors,” says Rodríguez.
In addition, the surge in arrivals has caused the forensic doctors in charge of carrying out bone tests to determine the age of new arrivals to be overwhelmed. The Canarian president, Fernando Clavijoassured last Sunday that 1,500 young people who have arrived to the coasts irregularly are waiting for it to be confirmed that they are really under 18 years old.
The iron: 239 people
Yesterday 239 immigrants arrived in El Hierro in two canoes. The first of them arrived at La Restinga at dawn with 19 men on board. The Salvamar Adhara He went out to meet a second boat and accompanied its 220 occupants to the dock.
Tenerife: 193 people
Yesterday, the Río Tajo Civil Guard patrol boat located two canoes about 25 kilometers from the La Restinga dock with a total of 193 people on board. The patrol boat did not disembark them in El Hierro, but rather took them to the port of Los Cristianos (Tenerife).
Lanzarote: 73 people
73 North African migrants arrived in Lanzarote on board two boats.
Morocco: Intercept a boat
The Moroccan Navy intercepted 157 migrants aboard a canoe that left Senegal and was heading to the Islands during the early hours of the morning.
