Delgado defends that the protocols to prevent the recruitment of minors under guardianship in the Canary Islands work

The Minister of Social Welfare, Equality, Youth, Childhood and Families of the Government of the Canary Islands, Candelaria Delgado, assured this Thursday that the protocols in the archipelago's network of children's centers to detect cases of sexual trafficking and exploitation of tutored migrant minors have been reinforced and "are working." Delgado responded this way after it became publicly known that the Central Operative Unit of the Civil Guard dismantled a criminal organization that trafficked in unaccompanied foreign minors tutored by the Canary Executive. 

These girls and adolescents housed in reception centers were recruited for sexual exploitation in the peninsula and France.

Delgado stressed that it was the Directorate General for Childhood that brought the facts to the attention of the Civil Guard, the Judicial Police and the Public Prosecutor's Office when a minor returned to the center and recounted what happened after having disappeared and being located in France.

"The mechanisms we have incorporated into the centers are working for the detection of these types of issues," the minister stated at a press conference, where she also highlighted the role of educators and workers in the reception centers.

As she explained, protection protocols have been reinforced in recent years with the collaboration of organizations such as Amnesty International, UNICEF, Save the Children and UNHCR, with the aim of improving the prevention and detection of risk situations.

"It is very important for us because it also reinforces the role that all educators in all children's centers are playing," said Delgado, who thanked them for the work carried out "in the tensions we have had during these years with peaks of up to 8,000 minors."

The Civil Guard reported last Tuesday the arrest of five people and the dismantling of an organization that allegedly recruited tutored migrant minors through false job offers to subsequently transfer them to different points of the peninsula or to France for sexual exploitation.

The investigation began after the statement of a tutored minor who managed to return from France and recounted that she had been deceived by the organization. Investigators later detected other cases of minors who left reception centers and appeared linked to flights to the peninsula.

The counselor has insisted that the known cases are not recent and recalled that the arrests correspond to events that occurred in 2024, while demanding that justice "be totally forceful against these types of actions that are detrimental to and against our children".

Delgado also explained that every time a minor under guardianship leaves a center and does not return at the established time, the incident is reported and, if applicable, a corresponding complaint is filed with the Prosecutor's Office and the security forces.

However, she indicated that "a very high percentage" of absences are resolved when the minors subsequently return to the centers.
In relation to the Sectoral Commission on Childhood held this Thursday to address the care of unaccompanied migrant minors in Ceuta,

Delgado expressed her confidence that the contribution of 25 million euros for Ceuta, intended for the care and transfer of migrant minors between autonomous communities, will be approved.

Likewise, in relation to the announcement that Governments where Vox has competencies in Childhood will not attend, she defended that all autonomous communities must comply with current legislation on the distribution of migrant minors and assured that the Canary Islands continue to transfer minors "every week".

Delgado defended that "Europe needs migration" and that European migration policy must be based on "regulated and safe entry", as well as on development cooperation with countries of origin to prevent migrants from having to risk their lives to reach Europe.