The Government, through its plan to alleviate the migratory pressure that the Canary Islands have suffered in recent months, has transferred 14,000 people who arrived irregularly to the islands from the archipelago to the peninsula. The reception network in the Canary Islands, which at the peak of the wave of Senegalese cayucos this autumn was almost 100%, is currently at 35% of its capacity, with about 2,400 people, according to data provided by the Ministry of Migrations.
Until November 30, 35,410 people had arrived irregularly in the Canary Islands, which is 134% more than last year. The numbers skyrocketed starting in September, as a result of the political and social instability in Senegal and the good sea during this time of year.
The Government launched all its machinery, oiled for years, to avoid at all costs the images of immigrants crowded on the islands so as not to convey the idea that the Canary Islands were the new Lampedusa. On the one hand, work has been done in countries of origin such as Senegal or Mauritania – in addition to Morocco, where police collaboration continues to work – to prevent the departure of boats. On the other hand, prevent the reception system from collapsing, diverting migrants to the peninsula.
As reported by the Ministry of Migration, some 14,000 migrants have been transferred to the peninsula. They have been distributed by the different autonomous communities depending on the available places. It is a unique system that does not distinguish between territories, but migrants are welcomed in some provinces or others depending on the supply of places. For this purpose, during these months, hotels, shelters and even military barracks have been set up. At this time, the system welcomes 39,000 people, according to the same ministry, which has announced a Sectoral Conference with the Autonomous Communities on December 28.
“Spain continues to face a great global challenge every day on its coasts with the arrival of migrants and to face it the reinforcement that this Government has carried out in recent years of its reception network has been key,” said the Head of Migration, Elma Saiz, from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Regarding collaboration with the countries of origin and transit, the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, has reported that the Civil Guard plane deployed in Senegal has prevented 52 cayucos from reaching the Canary Islands with 7,000 immigrants who had left the African coast. This means, according to Interior figures, having stopped 46% of irregular arrivals to the Canary Islands in the last two months.
Grande-Marlaska spoke these words after the meeting she held with the European Commissioner for the Interior, Ylva Johansson, whom she accompanied during her visit to Gran Canaria. The work meeting at the beginning of the day, held at the headquarters of the Government Delegation in the Canary Islands, was also attended by the President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo; the Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres; the Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz; the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration of Belgium, Nicole de Moor; and the Government delegate in the Canary Islands, Anselmo Pestana.
The minister thanked Johansson for “the enormous work and effort” carried out by the Commission so that the migration phenomenon in Europe is understood “as a challenge and not as a threat”, and for moving towards a common migration pact. “The border limits of Spain are also the borders of Europe, and migration must be a responsibility shared by the 27 Member States and not only by the countries of first entry,” said Marlaska.
During his speech, he also praised the coordination between administrations to manage migration in the Canary Islands and highlighted the importance of the five meetings of the Coordination Authority for Immigration in the Canary Islands held since September, which have become, in the opinion of the minister , “in a very useful forum to consolidate and grease the mechanisms and procedures of collaboration in immigration matters.”
After the meeting at the Government Delegation in the Canary Islands, the European Commissioner will also visit the Canary Islands Regional Coordination Center of the Civil Guard, where the Minister of the Interior will explain the work carried out by the Coordination Authority, chaired by Lieutenant General Juan Luis Perez.
Subsequently, the delegation will travel to the Temporary Attention Center for Foreigners (CATE) in Barranco Seco, managed by the National Police. In these facilities, the initial reception of migrants is carried out for a maximum period of 72 hours, until their referral to social and reception services.
