Isabel Déniz says that this "is nothing" compared to what could happen due to the strategic situation of the Canary Islands, "since, in reality, the issue of the cayucos is a war between poor and rich countries"

Isabel Déniz accuses PP and PSOE of having made an immigration policy "for show"

ACN The parliamentary spokesperson for the Mixed group, María Isabel Déniz, stated this Monday that the State's immigration policy in recent years, both that of the Popular Party (PP) and that of the Socialist ...

May 22 2006 (13:42 WEST)
Isabel Déniz accuses PP and PSOE of having made a migration policy for the gallery
Isabel Déniz accuses PP and PSOE of having made a migration policy for the gallery

ACN

The parliamentary spokesperson for the Mixed group, María Isabel Déniz, stated this Monday that the State's immigration policy in recent years, both that of the Popular Party (PP) and that of the Socialist Party (PSOE), has been "for show and for taking pictures", highlighting the absence of programs that provide solutions from Madrid to the situation that is occurring in the Canary Islands in these weeks due to the massive arrival of cayucos to its coasts.

Déniz made these statements during the plenary session held in the Chamber on illegal immigration in the Islands, where she referred to the issue as "one of the most important problems perceived by the Canarian population". In her opinion, the current situation involves finding solutions and points of agreement between the regional and central governments, with the aim of "alleviating the saturation of our public services".

The spokesperson for the Mixed group argued that, on this issue, both executives "should have acted ten years ago, because it is not a new phenomenon in the Canary Islands, but has been suffered for a decade". Déniz recalled that, despite the "alarming" number of people arriving by boat to the Archipelago, "the problem represents only 10 percent of what the real problem is, since many enter with a tourist visa and then stay".

She also asked to separate this "human drama that has been suffered in Lanzarote and Fuerteventura for years" from what the lack of services in the Canary Islands represents. "In those islands, there is the impression that we are dealing with a new problem, because this had to happen for it to truly become a State problem". At this point, the deputy emphasized that the situation of these last weeks is the consequence of the "lack of a firm, rigorous and unwavering immigration policy, both from the State and from the Government of the Canary Islands, since the political changes have depended on the agreements of CC in Madrid".

Déniz reviewed the measures that have been intended to be implemented in these months to respond to the situation. "Many agreements have been signed, an immigration plan, but the reality is that new mafias appear, the migratory routes have not been controlled, and meanwhile, the SIVE (Integrated External Surveillance System) is shameful, because it is not even known when it will be put in place", she denounced. Regarding the integration of immigrants, she highlighted that "nothing has been done in that sense", while pointing out that the repatriation agreements with Mauritania are not being fulfilled.

In conclusion, she indicated that "nothing that has been done so far has been forceful", reiterated that the State "does not take into account the Government of the Canary Islands in its policies" and asked the members of the Chamber not to be "alarmed" by the arrival of cayucos, "because this is a much deeper problem that has been suffered in the Canary Islands for ten years". María Isabel Déniz also insisted on the policy of "lack of coherence" of the central and regional governments "in one of the most important problems" of the Islands.

Despite valuing the "efforts" of the Canarian executive to "try to connect" with the State, she criticized the "absolute abandonment" of Madrid in such an important matter as this. That lack of forcefulness, she continued, "must have a firm position before the State, because what we are paying now is a consequence of what began ten years ago". After specifying that when similar situations occur in places like Ceuta and Melilla, the State shields the borders, "if it occurs in the Canary Islands, what matters is whether Barcelona has won the European Cup".

Déniz emphasized that the Canary Islands "is unprotected, abandoned and ignored by Spain for ten years", insisting on the need for this "human drama" to be treated "with international aid and cooperation". According to her, "this is nothing compared to what could happen due to the strategic situation of the Canary Islands, since, in reality, the issue of the cayucos is a war between poor and rich countries". Finally, she argued that the Archipelago "is not among the priorities of the State Government, compared to which the Canary Islands government has been weak".

LACK OF AFRICAN POLICY

Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the CC group, José Miguel González, agreed with the deputy that it is not a new issue as it has existed for more than ten years. Therefore, he expressed that "no one can come to talk about what is happening today and did not happen in the past", as he said he remembers the problems with Morocco, in reference to the stage in which the PP was in the Government of Spain, "and how there was no way to have contact".

González highlighted that the illegal immigration that arrives in the Canary Islands is "a European problem that Europe does not understand as its own, a problem difficult to solve, although not impossible". In his opinion, it is a situation about which Europe "is not sensitive; the Europeans of the north do not care because they see it far away". At this point, he asked not to "elude" the competences of each one, affirming that the regional government "has not been attended to in its requests and demands for the problem to be resolved".

"We Canarians are the great forgotten of the State", continued the spokesperson of CC, at which point he addressed the president of the Popular group, José Manuel Soria, to remind him of the "embarrassment produced by his interventions, inside and outside the Chamber", in response to the criticisms made to the president of the regional government, Adán Martín, about his intention to appeal to the King for a solution to be given to the massive arrival of boats.

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