The Ministry of Defense has refused to cede the Arrecife barracks to house unaccompanied minors arriving on the island in small boats, thus thwarting this option announced last week by the Government of the Canary Islands. This was announced this Friday by the Minister of Social Welfare of the Cabildo, Maite Corujo, during the Plenary that the institution was holding.
"They just told me that we will not be able to count on the barracks. The Government does not cede them. It says that it does not see the urgency and that the barracks are not suitable facilities for this purpose," explained the councilor, who received the news as a "bucket of cold water" and even spoke of a "humanitarian emergency." "The situation is starting to get out of hand. It is getting complicated by the moment," she warned, pointing out that more boats and therefore more minors are expected to arrive on the island, which does not have facilities enabled to accommodate them.
In fact, she explained that this Friday 15 more have arrived in the two boats that have reached the island, totaling 67 at the moment and making the situation even more difficult, which had already led the Cabildo to install inflatable tents to shelter the minors due to the lack of space in the foster homes that the institution has.
"They are not chairs. They are people and they need stays"
"You are giving me a disappointment," said the president of the Cabildo, Pedro San Ginés, who expressed his surprise at this news, as he pointed out that this Thursday he was told from the Government of the Canary Islands that "everything possible" was being done to get the State to cede the Arrecife barracks.
Faced with the refusal of the central government, San Ginés spoke of other options that have been considered as a "transitional" solution, including enabling a warehouse in the Teguise Agro-industrial Complex with wine deposits. "They are not chairs, they are people and they need stays," said the Minister of Social Welfare, who has asked for collaboration from all parties and all institutions to find solutions.
Precisely from the opposition, the possibility that the Cabildo use the facilities of the La Santa shelter to accommodate the minors has been insisted on. "That has a concession. We would have to seize it," San Ginés began, responding to the spokesman for Somos, Tomás López, referring to the company that currently operates these public facilities. "If there is to be compensation, let it be compensated. We are talking about an emergency, about people," defended the spokesman for Podemos, Carlos Meca.
"Until ten minutes ago, the Canarian Government was telling me that it had a solution"
For her part, the Minister of Social Welfare has confirmed that she does contemplate the possibility of resorting to the shelter, and has pointed out that if no progress had been made on this, it was because there was another option on the table. "Until ten minutes ago, the Government of the Canary Islands was telling me that it had a solution," she said.
Now, after learning the news, she says that this Friday she has even contacted the company that manages the shelter to find out if it is available, but the response has been that it had already planned to host several people this weekend for a sporting event.
Finally, San Ginés has joined the debate on how these facilities could be recovered and has raised the possibility of "paying for a hotel for the people who were going to stay in the shelter" so that the facilities can be available for the minors.
Even, "if there is no response from the barracks and the warehouse may take time," he has suggested that it may be studied "to declare a humanitarian emergency and evict the shelter," which has space to accommodate 120 people. Meanwhile, what has been approved in the Plenary is a motion to demand solutions from both the central government, reiterating the request for the transfer of the barracks, and the Government of the Canary Islands.
As for the immediate future, when the Cabildo has to accommodate another 15 minors this Friday plus those who may arrive in the coming days, the councilor has explained that she has also contacted different mayors to study the temporary transfer of municipal pavilions. "This is starting to be a humanitarian crisis," she insisted.
