The senator of the Popular Parliamentary Group for Lanzarote and La Graciosa, Joel Delgado, gave a press conference this Monday to announce that the State Government "finally acknowledges" what "was an open secret", and that of the twelve SIVE radars that exist between the islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura "only two of them are working correctly". In his appearance, Delgado has lashed out at the PSOE and the current president, Pedro Sanchez, although until six months ago his colleagues from the Popular Party were governing in Spain.
Now, Joel Delgado states that he has managed to have access to these data through the Executive's response to a question he raised about the operational status of the SIVE in the Canary Islands, and has made them known together with the radar located in Montaña Mina. "A team that the Sánchez Government points out in its response as partially operational and that could be easily verified to be out of service", said the senator, who believes that the situation of the SIVE is "totally unacceptable, especially when there are also six million euros in equipment for its repair and that are still in closed boxes without unpacking".
Although until six months ago the management of the SIVE depended on the PP Government, and the failures of this system were already known then, Delgado has stated that "the facts show that Sánchez cares very little about the migratory crisis, as when he came to Lanzarote and refused to meet with the president of the Canary Islands government or learn about the reality that the centers for unaccompanied foreign minors had in those days". In addition, he has announced that Pedro Sánchez will appear this Tuesday in the Senate at the request of the PP "to inform and explain how he is managing the migratory problem that the Canary Islands and the southern peninsula are suffering".
Motion presented in the Senate
Joel Delgado has stressed that "so that there are no more deaths at sea, so that the mafias do not take advantage of the tragic situation in the African continent, so that we have secure borders and so that we have the peace of mind that human rights will continue to be respected, the Popular Party has presented a motion that will go hand in hand with a similar initiative in the Regional Parliament".
The initiative, presented jointly by the senators of the eastern islands, aims to ensure that the Sánchez Executive commits to adopting measures "to address situations such as those experienced last October in the islands abandoned by the Government of Spain and with centers absolutely overwhelmed".
Measures demanded by the PP
Specifically, the proposed agreement of the motion presented by the Popular Parliamentary Group includes seven urgent measures, the first of which is to resume the bilateral relationship with Morocco and recover the joint strategy against the mafias. It also requests to coordinate the response with the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX); reinforce material and human resources in the islands for the control of borders not only in trafficking of people but also of narcotics; and immediately launch the SIVE radar in Lanzarote, acquired by the previous Government of Spain with an investment of more than six million euros.
It also asks to study extending the service of the Civil Guard of the Sea to Lanzarote, which currently has its base in Fuerteventura; increase the budget allocated to the Canary Islands by the Government of Spain to care for unaccompanied immigrant minors; and approve as soon as possible an action plan and a unified protocol to coordinate the arrival of immigrants to our coasts.