The President of the Government of the Canary Islands, Paulino Rivero, met urgently this Friday with José Miguel Ruano, Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Security, with the Minister of Social Welfare and Housing, Inés Rojas, and the Minister of Health, Mercedes Roldós, due to the "unspeakable tragedy" that took place this morning on the coasts of the Gran Canaria municipality of Agüimes, where up to ten immigrants ran aground with their boat and died 50 meters from the shore.
"We have concluded that we must meet with the President of the Government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, to address the issue of immigration and seek new solutions, since the measures that currently exist are not capable of alleviating the problem," Rivero explained. "This is not only a statistical issue, but we cannot fail to look at the figures, this year the number of known deaths has increased, so the humanitarian situation has all our attention," he added.
The Government of the Canary Islands conveyed that "today Frontex is an illusion and that the European Union (EU) has turned its back on Spain on immigration issues", so it will propose the meeting with Zapatero as a "search for responsibility and collaboration, to avoid more similar incidents, where it is the neighbors who raise the alarm".
The tone of the meeting between the members of the Government of the Canary Islands was characterized by a "deep reflection on immigration, which is already contemplated in the Bill that we have prepared on this matter".
"We will not fall into defeatism, things can be done to avoid unfortunate events like this. Although if immigration is not controlled with the help of the central government, it means that the State model has failed," Rivero concluded.
ACN Press
