Fourteen associations from Lanzarote join other Canary Island groups to demand transparency in Foreigners Detention Centers

"This is hell, it's worse than a prison, I haven't done anything wrong to deserve this." This is the testimony of an Ecuadorian woman held in a Foreigners Detention Center in Madrid. Doctors Without Borders has disseminated this message denouncing, between sobs, the "unfair" situation of a young woman who, next to her, has just given birth by cesarean section and remained "locked up" in subhuman conditions.

It is any testimony, chosen at random among many others that occur every day in many Spanish CIEs, including the three located in the Canary Islands. With the exception that the vast majority is not heard outside the walls of these centers. And some are not even understood because there is no linguistic assistance or interpreters who know languages ​​such as Mandinka, Wolof or Fulani.

This Friday, in Lanzarote, fourteen associations from the Island have joined another six from the rest of the archipelago to protest this situation where the right to communication granted by the Immigration Law is continuously violated. In most CIEs, inmates can make calls, but not receive them. The isolation includes the absence of radios, televisions and newspapers.

Therefore, they ask the Ministry of the Interior and the Government delegation in the Canary Islands for access by associations, NGOs, unions and the media to the facilities of the Foreigners Detention Centers as a control measure to the situation that is experienced from the walls inwards. In addition, they request an improvement in the prior visit request service, an extension of the duration of visits and appropriate stays for them.

ACN Press was one of the media that requested access to one of the CIEs, specifically in Tenerife. Although the agency insistently asked the Vice Presidency of the central Government and the Ministry of the Interior for a written argument for its refusal, it never arrived, justifying itself with "reasons of security and respect for the privacy of immigrants."

However, this privacy is not protected in the Fuerteventura CIE, where a report prepared by Sara Prestianni for the European Parliament has stated that there are "four showers and two toilets" for more than 300 people. The hygienic and sanitary conditions "are very poor", according to the European parliamentary committee. In addition, many immigrants face a difficult personal situation before reaching the Spanish coasts. Behind the weak physical situation, situations of psychological "shock" are hidden in many cases. Situations that can lead to suicide if the necessary support is not provided, as Sara Prestianni warns in her report.

"The access of immigrant associations to these centers would change things a lot," explains José Morales, from the Uruguayans in Lanzarote association. "The compatriots themselves could help and inform the newcomers of their situation, and send information to the family in the country of origin." Next to him, Guelase Ganó, from the Collective of Independent Immigrants, nods and clarifies: "through email all this is very easy now, and it would end the uncertainty of families who do not know if their children have died in a boat."

SHORT-TERM ACTIONS

In total, twenty associations from the Canary Islands will undertake a series of actions to protest about the situation of the CIEs and request greater transparency in the treatment of immigrants. This Saturday, starting at 12 noon, a demonstration will head towards the doors of the El Matorral center, where they will demand compliance with human rights. At that same time, the island of Tenerife will support the concentration, supporting those relatives of immigrants who in Aluche continue with a hunger strike at the doors of the Madrid CIE.

THE FUTURE CIE OF LANZAROTE

The immigrant groups of Lanzarote have recently addressed the controversy arising from the location of a Foreigners Detention Center in Lanzarote. From their point of view, "it is necessary to improve the centers that already exist before building another new one."

ACN Press