The Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, denied this Tuesday in the Senate that half of the migrant population in Spain receives aid, “as CIS citizens think”, since only 11% think so. Similarly, the general opinion is that 40% are unemployed, but only 16% are in such a situation, and he pointed out that arrivals by boat account for 0.5% of all migrant entries.
“And you talk about invasion,” he replied in response to Vox senator Paloma Gómez, who asked him “what measures do you plan to adopt against illegal immigration, given that it is the main problem of the Spanish people.” “The far-right media campaigns and the hoaxes they fuel have created a problem that is not a problem,” but “official data refute them”said during the monitoring session in the Government.
According to Gómez, the executive “spent 3 billion euros last year on 57,000 irregular migrants.” “There are people in El Hierro who live in containers”he continued, when “migrants stay in hotels.” In addition, Gómez accused the executive of breaking the law on welcoming people from countries that are not at war, such as Morocco, Algeria or Senegal, and demanded “massive expulsions” of irregular migrants.
According to him,“this government is sold to the interests of foreign states and Brussels”, and with its welcoming policy “favors the mafias.” “Immigration is the main problem for 30.4% of the Spanish population and (the government) acts as a denier,” he said.
“You are the only ones responsible for the disinformation”the minister responded, accusing Vox of “distinguishing between first-class and second-class refugees.” “More than 200,000 Ukrainian citizens arrived in Spain because of Russia’s invasion, and they thought it was a good thing. However, a boat arrives with 50 people from Mali and they are asking us to repatriate them,” he criticized. The Geneva Convention obliges signatory states not to distinguish between refugees for any reason, he recalled. “It disgusts me to hear their lies and hoaxes,” Saiz concluded.
