The Ombudsman, Francisco Fernández Marugán, assured this Tuesday that the administrations "were not prepared to give an adequate response" to the migratory crisis in the Canary Islands that has been registered since the summer of 2020 and indicated that there was "lack of foresight" on the part of the competent authorities, as well as "lack of coordination" between them and "a notable absence" of a reception network.
This is what he declared before the Joint Commission (Congress-Senate) for Relations with the Ombudsman, before which he appeared to present the report 'Migration in the Canary Islands' carried out by the Institution, after his visit to the archipelago last November to observe the situation.
This study, Fernández Marugán indicated, has collected the "collapse" experienced in the islands during the last months of last year, which forced the activation of temporary devices in the Canary Islands, such as hotels, industrial warehouses and camps for the reception of migrants.
This situation experienced its most worrying moment when thousands of people had to sleep outdoors on the Arguineguín pier (Gran Canaria) due to lack of resources, a situation that the Defender has described as "not easy at all".
The report, the Defender indicated, indicates that the rights of the migrants who at that time arrived in the Canary Islands were "repeatedly violated" and that their reception conditions were "deeply degraded". "The report traces multiple events, but all confirm the poor conditions of those who were in Arguineguín and the violation of rights that occurred there," he denounced.
An action with "a long list of dysfunctions"
Before the deputies and senators, Fernández Marugán also pointed out how "inadequate" it is to "turn geographical areas into places of deprivation of rights" such as, for example, the right of movement, "with the simple argument of carrying out immigration control" and "avoiding the call effect". In this sense, he has called for studying the effectiveness of the return system, questioning that immigrants are prevented from leaving the Canary Islands, which is something that the courts have already spoken out against.
But it is not the only aspect that worries the Defender, who, as he has indicated, sees "dysfunctions" in the work of the Spanish public authorities. In his opinion, "the coordination between administrations with competence was insufficient", facilities were raised that were not appropriate, the staff trained to identify these vulnerable people "was scarce" and there was an "excessive concentration in reception centers in certain municipalities and in neighborhoods of cities in which the serious crisis caused by the pandemic had been felt".
To put an end to this "long list of dysfunctions", Fernández Marugán proposes in the report short, medium and long-term measures that, in his opinion, are possible with "political will". These proposals include the need to improve legal and interpretation services for migrants, the implementation of clear protocols for the different administrations, or collaboration between autonomous communities to share responsibilities in a "solidarity" manner, among other initiatives.
In his speech, he referred precisely to solidarity between territories, in relation to unaccompanied minors. According to him, as of February 12, 2021, there were 2,666 children under the custody of the Canarian child protection entity, a figure that, in his opinion, "is not reasonable" for the Canarian services to "assume alone".
Another of the points on which the Defender's report focuses is the search for people who disappeared at sea during the journey and which UNHCR, according to what he explained, puts at 480, of the more than 23,000 who arrived in the archipelago last year. In this regard, he explained that the Institution receives complaints from the families of those on board to investigate the whereabouts of the travelers, a "very hard work" that, according to Fernández Marugán, cannot be addressed by the organizations.
