The Senate has approved this Wednesday a motion by CC on immigration that has included contributions from other groups, one of them to demand that the central government install the SIVE (Integrated External Surveillance System) radar in Lanzarote “within six months.” This amendment was proposed by the PP senator for Gran Canaria, Sergio Ramos, who recalled that there is material that was “purchased by a government of the Popular Party and that is currently in a warehouse.”
These new equipments, acquired after acknowledging years ago the failures in the SIVE of Lanzarote, were not installed by the Government of Mariano Rajoy and remain so years later. “How is it possible that this radar is in a warehouse?”, asked Sergio Ramos, who argued that “the Canary Islands cannot wait another minute, people are dying; this cannot be a political problem, it must be solved now.” In addition, he recalled that three weeks ago he registered in the Senate the request for the report on the status of the SIVE that he is still waiting for. “Ladies and gentlemen, the SIVE in the Canary Islands does not work,” he warned.
The original motion, which has had the support of PSOE, PP, Ciudadanos and PNV after several amendments were incorporated, had been presented by CC senator Fernando Clavijo. “It coincides, almost entirely, with a motion that the PP of the Canary Islands took to the Canarian Parliament on July 15,” said Senator Sergio Ramos in this regard.
Among other things, with this motion it has also been agreed to demand that the central government enable the disused infrastructures existing in the Canary Islands, owned by the Ministry of Defense, for the reception of irregular migrants in Spain, and that these people be distributed in a "more supportive" manner throughout the Spanish territory.
In addition, the creation of a committee is requested to strengthen coordination between all administrations in attention to the migratory situation that is experienced in the Canary Islands, where, as Clavijo recalled, “the arrival of boats to its coasts has increased considerably in recent months.”
More means for border control
Along with the demand on the SIVE in Lanzarote, the motion also asks for the recovery of personnel and the modernization of equipment, means and infrastructures in other islands, to “strengthen border control in the archipelago.”
"Continue requesting the maximum application of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) in the Canary Islands, demanding the collaboration of the EU on the southern community border", also includes the motion, which asks to "expand and improve" the means assigned to the Maritime Safety and Rescue Society so that it continues with its work of ensuring the service at all points of the Canarian coast, carrying out an "optimal distribution of its means based on technical parameters."
In terms of reception, it also proposes "the supportive distribution of migrants among different humanitarian reception devices existing in the Peninsula."
Similarly, it demands, among other things, equitable financing of the autonomous communities "to promote the effectiveness of the management of migratory flows", as well as the "strengthening and development of a common policy on asylum and immigration, respecting the rights and principles enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU.”
