The president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort, visited the port facilities of the Naos dock in Arrecife this Tuesday morning to corroborate the situation of saturation currently experienced by the migrant care device: "Some criticized the Cabildo and the Government of the Canary Islands in their day for promoting the installation of tents on this dock, in anticipation of the migratory wave we were expecting. They called us alarmist then. But now, unfortunately, time is proving us right about the usefulness of these facilities that are being used since yesterday to care for two hundred immigrants, adults," he declared.
It should be remembered that in just four days, some 1,500 people have been attended to in Lanzarote, which has completely overwhelmed the island's reception system. This has meant that humanitarian and security teams are currently using the tents that the Canary Islands Executive installed on the dock for the care of minors, because the huge arrival of people has forced their opening. In addition, we must regret the loss of new lives at sea.
"The important thing is to treat these people with dignity; but no less true is that in a few minutes, Maritime Rescue will disembark another two hundred people here after the latest rescues, which would already be about 400 people being cared for here, at the foot of the dock. The situation is going to get even more complicated for us," noted the island's president, who also wanted to thank the work done by the Red Cross, Maritime Rescue and the State security forces, "because together we are managing to respond to this serious problem."
Oswaldo Betancort was accompanied on the dock by the sub-delegate of the Government in the Canary Islands, María Teresa Mayans Vázquez, the Councilor for Social Welfare of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Marci Acuña, and the first deputy mayor of Arrecife, Echedey Eugenio.
In her statements to the media, the sub-delegate María Teresa Mayans Vázquez confirmed that the Temporary Foreigners Assistance Center (CATE), prepared to accommodate about 400 people, has been overwhelmed. "We have reinforcements from the National Police who have traveled from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria," she detailed. She also reported that referrals are being made to the CATE of Fuerteventura.
"I have to thank you for the transfer of this tent. I think that shows that different administrations, of different colors, can agree when it comes to managing this humanitarian drama," said María Teresa Mayans.
"This does not guarantee the rights of minors"
Councilor Marci Acuña has warned about the situation in which the devices for unaccompanied foreign minors are located on the Island: "We already had them in tension and now they are oversized. There are 120 minors that we are currently caring for on a stable basis in the eight devices that the Cabildo (6) and the Government of the Canary Islands (2) have.
With the fifty minors who have arrived this weekend, we are in a limit situation and therefore we raise our voice to say that it is necessary that, once and for all, the rules change so that the reform of the Immigration Law is a reality," he insisted. "What we are experiencing is record-breaking. And this does not guarantee the fundamental rights of unaccompanied minors, and this worries us greatly," said Acuña.
For his part, Councilor Echedey Eugenio, who also thanked the work done by the humanitarian and security teams of Lanzarote, expressed "the gratitude of the Arrecife City Council to the Cabildo of Lanzarote because, once again, it assumes responsibilities in competences that others are not able to face," warning that Lanzarote and La Graciosa "cannot continue improvising in the massive arrival of people to our coasts. It is not the way to care for those who risk their lives and it is not the way to manage a phenomenon like this. We have to demand that the State fulfill its obligations and put in Lanzarote the resources it needs because this is not a one-off event."
Finally, President Oswaldo Betancort has made it clear that this migratory flow "will continue", and has demanded that the competent administrations put in place the means necessary to achieve "that this migratory phenomenon is managed in entry and redistribution within the State, which is what we demand from Lanzarote and La Graciosa," he concluded.
