ST. CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 28th June (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Canary Islands President, Fernando Clavijo, expressed on Friday that the reported unhealthiness in a migrant minors’ centre in Lanzarote, now under investigation by the Las Palmas Prosecutor’s Office, reveals the overwhelming demand for reception in the archipelago.
While speaking to reporters, he lamented that such situations are occurring on the islands and hopes it will shed light on the challenges faced in ensuring the rights of minors as per international treaties, which should be considered basic rights rather than privileges.
The migrant solidarity network in Lanzarote has lodged a complaint with the Prosecutor’s Office and the Ombudsman citing inadequate conditions at a Samu Foundation centre that fall short of habitable standards.
As per the complaint, as reported by ‘Cadena Ser’, the centre is plagued with constant presence of ants and cockroaches, lack of proper hygiene, absence of laundry services, and provision of substandard food by an external caterer, mostly comprising of pasta and stale bread on numerous occasions.
Emphasising on the need for additional facilities, the president stated that in the previous term, the reception of nearly 2,000 minors was deemed “unsustainable”, and now with almost 6,000 minors under the guardianship of the Canary Islands, there are only 80 available resources without scope for expansion.
Discussing the updated immigration law agreement, he noted the government’s optimism on improving the initial text through added funding. He welcomed the upcoming sectoral conference in the first half of July on the islands for informing and incorporating suggestions from autonomous communities.
He highlighted that the only parliamentary group opposed to the agreement is Vox, while indicating Junts’ reservations due to ongoing negotiations with the government for power transfers in immigration matters.
Recognising that “the children are arriving in Spain”, he stressed on the importance of solidarity from everyone, indicating that a suitable response for these minors should be promptly provided through decree law, given its immediate enforceability.
