MADRID – Spain on Wednesday adopted measures to redistribute thousands of accompanied minor migrants who are refusing to the Canary Islands.
The reforms aim to end a months-long political deadlock between Spanish regions and the central government and to ease pressure on overcrowded immigration reception centres, primarily in the Canary Islands.
For months, local Canary leaders have complained about the lack of resources to protect thousands of unaccompanied children and teenagers, many of them from West Africa, who have arrived on the coast.
In Spain, with a population of 49 million, the central government handles adult immigrants, while the regional government is responsible for unaccompanied minors.
After the measure was approved on Tuesday, AncherVictor Torres is the government minister responsible for relations between Spain and the region, which was called “a milestone in the defense of human rights” and the rights of minors.
“It's good for those in doubt about visiting immigration (reception) centres,” said Torres, who headed the Canary Islands Regional Government. “And in the 20-person space, there are 300 people and they see that they are 15, 10, 5 years old.”
In regions such as the Canary Islands and the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, North Africa, where minors such as the more companions, the measures will be transferred to other parts of Spain, allowing the region to take into account the population, per capita income, unemployment and other considerations.
The Canary Islands protect more than 5,000 unaccompanied minors across the archipelago. Approximately 4,000 migrants will be transferred elsewhere in mainland Spain.
The final figures are still hashed, but the wealthy Catalonian regions, including Barcelona, only receive minors of 20-30 accompaniment, said a spokesman for Junto by Catalan Party.
Support for the Catalan and Separatist Party's ju jury in the measure was key to the Spanish socialist-led minority government closing the deal.
The Atlantic strip between West Africa and the Canary Islands is one of the deadliest travel routes in the world. Nearly 47,000 people who scored crossings last year arrived at the archipelago, shattering previous records for the second time. Most were citizens of Mali, Senegal and Morocco, and had many boarding ships from the Mauritania coast to Spain.
The numbers so far have been declining, according to the Spanish Ministry of Interior. As of March 15th this year, around 11,000 immigrants had arrived in Spain at sea, a 21% decrease from the same period last year.
