SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Oct. 13 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Parliament of the Canary Islands has sent to the European Union (EU), through the European Committee of the Regions (CDR), a total of 24 proposals to address the migration crisis that the archipelago is experiencing.
The president of the Chamber, Astrid Pérez, highlights the importance of these conclusions, drawn from the ‘Conecta Canarias-Europa Conference’, which includes the demand for a single command in the Spanish State in matters of immigration; the need for an equitable distribution of the burdens generated by immigration to alleviate the pressure of the regions that are European borders, or the provision of more human resources and more effective technical means for border control in the Canary Islands.
These proposals are the result of the debate and work table dedicated to migration and asylum, which took place at the ‘Conecta Canarias-Europa Conference’, with the participation of deputies from all parliamentary groups, with the exception of Vox, collects a note from the regional chamber.
Parliament’s proposals also include “demanding that regional realities be taken into account in the reform of the EU’s migration and asylum policy; requesting increased international cooperation from Europe towards the countries sending the most irregular immigration to Canary Islands; demand more funding from the State and the EU to create and manage an adequate reception network, also in crisis and emergency situations, or urge the implementation of referral procedures that avoid overcrowding situations.
The Parliament of the Canary Islands also urges the development in state and European regulations of the concept of mandatory solidarity and shared responsibility in matters of irregular immigration and care for unaccompanied minors; for the regional governments most affected by migration phenomena to be heard and participate directly in the definition and development of new community migration policies; to generate an improvement in the means and actions to combat human trafficking, and to arbitrate an adequate distribution of warded minors.
Astrid Pérez emphasizes that, in addition, “an increase in the human and material resources of the State security forces and bodies, Maritime Rescue and Frontex is requested; the activation of an agile and transparent transfer policy from the Canary Islands to the rest of Spain and Europe, or the implementation of a joint system of rapid, common and solidarity reaction in situations of migratory crisis in Europe”.
THE ISLANDS AS A HUMANITARIAN PLATFORM
Parliament requests that it also be made possible for “the Canary Islands to function as a humanitarian platform and not as a large detention center, the study of legal modifications that address the reception of minors as a state issue, and the urgent approval of a new Pact of EU Migration and Asylum”.
The Spanish State is also asked to “co-finance the reception of migrant minors together with the regions until it is definitively assumed as a state responsibility, or to generate information points in transit and at origin to combat misinformation among migrants.”
The Regional Chamber also advocates “guaranteeing the right to effective judicial protection of migrants; an increase in European investment in integration, training and learning in destination and transit countries; a stable and consolidated structure for the referral of minors hosted in the Canary Islands to other communities; rapid family reunification of minors, and the review of immigration regulations to simplify and shorten the legal procedures for obtaining residence and work permits.”
