The ‘Canary Pact for Migration’ calls for the deployment of Frontex and more resources and personnel for Rescue and security forces and bodies
SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Oct. 19 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Government of the Canary Islands and all the groups in Parliament -PSOE, CC, PP, NC-BC, ASG and AHI-, except Vox, have agreed this Thursday on a joint document, which they will send to the central government and the Cortes, in which they ask to make legal changes so that migrant minors are compulsorily distributed among the autonomous communities and that there is more coordination to manage the arrival of migrants.
In statements to journalists after meeting with all the groups, the Canarian president, Fernando Clavijo, has valued the “generosity” of all the groups for working together to face a “dramatic, exceptional and emergency situation” and that the text has been closed almost unanimously.
He has pointed out that migrants are fleeing “hunger and death” and that is why he sees it necessary to establish a “coordination mechanism” to respond to this phenomenon, at least in Spain, given that there is still no common migration policy.
According to Clavijo, this agreement is a “good sign, a good path and a good message” to achieve a “humanitarian response” for migrants, enabling economic and reception resources so that “the Canary Islands do not bear the pressure alone.” .
The president has insisted that “the most urgent thing” is to make legal modifications so that minors are distributed among the autonomous communities following various parameters such as population, territory or economic capacity.
Along these lines, he has indicated that “it is not a question of pressure” but rather that minors must have their basic needs covered and attend school and has given as an example that in the last month and a half from El Hierro 574 minors have been transferred to other islands. and according to the latest state agreement, now only slightly less than 400 will be transferred to the rest of Spain.
“The Canary Islands cannot do this alone,” he indicated, stressing that the Minister of Migration, José Luis Escrivá, is in favor of arbitrating legal changes.
The so-called ‘Canary Pact for Migration’ asks the State to recover the Delegate Commission for Migration Affairs, in addition to establishing a permanent coordination system and to improve the response to the arrival of migrants to the Canary Islands coasts by planning a network or structure of stable reception throughout the territory of the State, while allowing the mobility or transfer of migrants throughout the autonomous communities.
It is also demanded that all State security forces and bodies, as well as Salvamar units, be provided with sufficient personnel and material means.
SPECIFIC FINANCING FUND
Likewise, it includes a section in which it is committed to the creation of a specific economic fund “to contribute to the financing of municipal and regional services that are affected by the care and integration of migrants.”
As for the EU, the document includes a package of requests among which stand out “a greater deployment of Frontex in the Canary Islands and the implementation of effective measures to fight mafias and improve living conditions in the countries of origin and migrant transit.
Government parliamentary groups also request the European Commission to enable extraordinary funds and resources to “address the humanitarian drama that the Canary Islands are experiencing.”
The regional Executive also undertakes to reinforce health care teams – in situations of massive arrivals of immigrants – to ensure adequate coverage of migrants in a way that “involves the least possible impairment of the ordinary activity of the Canarian Health Service.” Health and emergency teams”.
NICASIO GALVÁN: THE AGREEMENT IS “THROW IN THE TOWEL”
Vox spokesperson Nicasio Galván – the only group that has not supported the pact – has said that the document represents “throwing in the towel” in the fight against irregular immigration, which is why he has asked for “a change of strategy” to obtain other results.
He has said that now “thousands of people are dying” who come to Europe “deceived” and with the enrichment of the mafias and he has not hesitated to affirm that this phenomenon generates “impoverishment” in both the countries of destination and origin. “Anything that does not involve helping at the source makes no sense,” she explained.
Galván believes that referring migrants is “transferring the problem from the Canary Islands to the rest of Spain” and believes that we must look for a way out “that is not the sea”, highlighting, however, that the Canary Islands Government does not practice the solidarity that it demands from the rest. of autonomous communities since Gran Canaria has more than 60% of unaccompanied migrant minors.
He has insisted that minors “are best with their parents” and cannot be under the guardianship of a public administration, which is why he has called for more development cooperation with African countries and working with consulates “so that they come from legal and orderly manner” but also “that they adapt to living among the Spaniards”.
