Sí Podemos criticizes that the central Government has looked the other way in the face of the responsibility of welcoming migrant girls and boys with dignity

María del Río: “if in the face of the obvious lack of solidarity it is necessary to stop appealing to the voluntariness of the Autonomous Communities, and for this it is necessary to make a legislative change, let it be done, we are facing a State Issue.”

February 6 2022 (15:44 WET)
The Si Podemos deputy, María del Río
The Si Podemos deputy, María del Río

María del Río, president of the Sí Podemos Canarias Parliamentary Group, believes that the central government "must stop looking the other way and get truly involved in solving the serious problem that exists in the Islands to continue welcoming with dignity the girls, boys and young people who continue to arrive by boat alone, without family, to the Canary coasts, and especially to Lanzarote."

"The Canary Islands' reception network is overwhelmed, the General Directorate for the Protection of Children and Families is currently assuming the guardianship of 2,819 girls and boys to whom, in addition to offering them accommodation and food, it is necessary to guarantee them education, health care and everything that their own family would do until they reach the age of majority," says Del Río.

For the Sí Podemos Canarias Parliamentary Group, "the State and the rest of the autonomous communities have looked the other way, ignoring a humanitarian problem that has reached its limit, it is time to assume responsibilities and welcome part of these girls and boys because the Canary Islands alone cannot and there is not a single resource more available" as recently recognized by the general director of Protection for Children and Families, Iratxe Serrano.

Therefore, in the control session of the Canary Islands Government that the Parliament will hold on Tuesday, February 8, the president of the Sí Podemos Canarias Parliamentary Group will ask the Minister of Social Rights, Noemí Santana, about the problems that the General Directorate of Children and Families has encountered in dealing with this situation.

In the Canary Islands we are facing a humanitarian and migratory crisis alone in which both the ministers of Social Inclusion and Migration, as well as the Interior, "have not been up to the task, neither have the autonomous communities nor the EU, so it is time to stop appealing to goodwill and start thinking about legislating," insists Del Río.
 

State Issue

The president of the Sí Podemos Canarias Parliamentary Group recalls that without more reception places and without the possibility of enabling new supervised flats "neither the Government of the Canary Islands nor the different councils have the capacity to welcome and care for any more creature with the dignity they deserve, and we are not willing to tolerate another camp of shame, and even less when it comes to minors."

In this line, and thanking the committed city councils, of all political colors, that have done so, she criticizes that some, as is the case of Haría in Lanzarote, have shown their absolute refusal to collaborate by providing resources for the reception, demonstrating that it is "a municipal government team that is far behind the courage and solidarity of its people and its people, who have not hesitated to jump into the sea to save lives, on cold and dark nights, when necessary."

"It is outrageous that politics is being made with these young people, girls and boys, and false speeches are being heard linking them to crime or social conflict," says Del Río.

The Parliamentary Group recalls that it has been more than two years since the Canary Islands has been asking the State for help that has not arrived "so that in some way, in line with UNICEF's demands, a distribution among autonomous communities should be forced, which implies a solid and stable commitment, and not a patch or worse, that it remains a mere declaration of good intentions."

As will be recalled, in January alone, 2,300 people arrived in the Canary Islands by boat, 50 of them minors, who join the 22,316 of last year and the 23,271 of 2020. 

Another fact to take into account the magnitude of the problem is that in the so-called 'cayucos crisis' of 2006, the Islands welcomed a total of 900 young people, girls and unaccompanied children, three times less than at present. 

"If in the face of the obvious lack of solidarity it is necessary to stop appealing to the voluntariness of the autonomous communities and for this it is necessary to make a legislative change, let it be done, we are facing possible violations of Human Rights and Children's Rights that we are not going to consent to, this has to be a priority and considered a State Issue," concludes Del Río.

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