The President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, met this Tuesday in Geneva with the director of the UNHCR in Europe, Philippe Leclerc, and the deputy regional director of Unicef, Octavian Bivol, to ask for advice and help of these two organizations to administer and manage the migratory pressure that the archipelago is experiencing, “of great intensity and the greatest in all of Europe at the moment”.
Fernando Clavijo informed the two officials of the situation that exists in Canary Islandsmainly, with regard to unaccompanied foreign minorsand asked them for help to be able to provide them with a “dignified, transparent and adequate” response to the rights of these boys and girls.
Clavijo also requested technical advice from UNHCR and Unicef, knowing that the Canary Islands government even had to hire 39 additional civil servants to be able to deal with this situationbecause “we are talking about international treaties, rights and complex procedures that are not usual in an administration like that of the Canary Islands, sized to serve a volume according to its population of national minors”, he said.
The head of the Canary Islands Executive wanted to recall that only last year 7,398 minors arrived in the Islands in four months and by the end of the year a similar number will likely arrive, so “we need technical advice, help and collaboration to be able to manage them properly.” It is a phenomenon which will be structural, neither punctual nor cyclical,” explained the representative of the Canary Islands.
Clavijo said that UNHCR and Unicef are already aware that the Canary Islands are currently the “biggest hotspot” in the European Union in terms of migration, which is why he also conveyed the possibility of visiting the Archipelago and launch projects like those they have implemented in other territories such as Andalusia or Ceuta.
Nearly 50,000 arrivals in the Canary Islands
The president recalled that in 2023 almost 40,000 migrants arrived on the coasts of the Canary Islands and that so far this year there have already been 85% more arrivals compared to the same period last year; Therefore, if this projection continues, the year 2024 could exceed the figure of 50,000 migrants. It is for this reason that he once again recommended working in emitting countries, because “this phenomenon will continue with much more intensity”.
Clavijo added that around 12% of migrants arriving in the islands are minors, which is why he insisted that they need to be offered a support program so that they acquire social skills, know the language and obtain the necessary documentation to be able to work. “Otherwise you ultimately condemn them to the underground economy, crime or human trafficking,” he concluded.
