The Government of the Canary Islands and the Popular Party (PP) signed an agreement on Tuesday on the migration emergencywhich involves the twelve communities and the two autonomous cities governed by the popular. An agreement that will be sent to the Central Executive of Pedro Sánchez for negotiation.
The President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, and the President of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, together with the Vice-President of the archipelago, Manuel Domínguez, presented this agreement in a press conference that establishes nine pointsincluding the criteria for the orientation of unaccompanied minors arriving on the coasts of the Canary Islands and Ceuta and the modification of article 35 of the immigration law.
Feijóo said that this document is a roadmap before the lack of immigration policy and accused the central government of “swerving” and failing to respect its powers in matters of immigration policy, foreigners and the return of irregular migrants.
The document considers the call for a Conference of Presidents to deal with immigration policy, the declaration of national emergency in immigration matters and, with regard to minors, the percentages in which the autonomous communities will have powers over the minors received and for which the central government will be responsible are determined.
Specifically, the proposal of the Government of the Canary Islands and the PP establishes that the communities will be responsible for the financing and management up to 100% of its capacity to accommodate minors, while when this capacity is exceeded and up to 150%, management will be the responsibility of the communities but the financing of the surplus will correspond to the State. Once this capacity to accommodate minors is exceeded 150%, the care of minors and the financing will be assumed by the State.
Feijóo explained that in addition to the urgent convening of the Conference of Presidents, a sectoral conference on migration, childhood and youth to establish the criteria for the distribution of immigrant minors under the guardianship of the Canary Islands, numbering 5,500, among the autonomous communities, so that “no one is exempted”.
It must be ensured that migrants from this country are minors “without doubt” and the Government must provide the autonomous communities with infrastructure and accommodation resources. The government must also provide a fund contingency until the age of emancipation minors and commit to covering expenses when autonomy is exceeded, which must be included in the amendment of the immigration law.
In addition to the points related to the management of migrant minors, the agreement of the Government of the Canary Islands with the PP includes a broader and more comprehensive action plan. against “lack of immigration control”in Feijóo’s words. Among them is the guarantee of the border controla transit passport, more resources, the deployment of security forces in the countries of origin and transit to fight against mafias, ask the EU to deploy Frontex and increase the number of staff to process return files.
Another point of the pact between the PP and the government of the Canary Islands is that the mechanisms in the EU to address the migration emergency, with the possibility of transferring immigrants to other states. Intensifying cooperation with countries of origin, ensuring information flows between communities and the government and promoting the implementation of the Immigration and Asylum Pact in the EU are other points of the agreement.
The popular president appreciated this agreement because his political strength is “a State party” and so “Interregional solidarity is not negotiable”Unlike other formations that say “no to everything,” he said. “We have confirmed that the Canarian government is alone” and that the responsibility of a state party is to provide solutions, so that in the face of a government obsessed with division, “our commitment is to unite and cooperate,” Feijóo said.
However, it should be noted that the agreement between the government of the Canary Islands and the PP comes after July 23, with the votes against the popular group, the Congress reject a previous agreement between the Canarian Executive and the central Executive to modify the Immigration Law for the distribution of unaccompanied migrant minors.
According to the President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, this proposal It failed due to the lack of willingness to negotiate with the PP.This is why the government of the Canary Islands has worked to achieve this “country agreement”which constitutes “a giant step” to negotiate with the Spanish government and reach an agreement “beneficial for all parties”.
“It is a document to be negotiated” and obtained “provide a coordinated response of all public administrations”, with a guaranteed majority in Congress and the Senate, as well as the collaboration of all the autonomous communities, insisted Clavijo. Núñez Feijóo stressed that the Government of the Canary Islands is the one who suffers most from the “absence of immigration policy” and accused Sánchez’s executive of not wanting to negotiate with the PP and of presenting a text to Congress last July “without committing to anything” with his party.
