Unidad del Pueblo Canario (UPC), the left-wing coalition formed by Izquierda Unida, Podemos, Nueva Canarias, and Movimiento Sumar Canarias, demanded this Monday that human rights "be the core of migratory policies in the State" and called for solidarity with the Canary Islands in the face of a reality that "is not going to disappear and requires a joint response from all autonomous communities, the state government, and the European Union."
The lead candidate for the Congress of Deputies for Las Palmas, Luis Campos, stated that the migratory phenomenon requires planning, resources, and transfers. Meanwhile, the candidate for the Senate for Gran Canaria, Ana Gloria Sánchez, called for inter-territorial solidarity so that the islands do not have to bear the sole responsibility for assisting migrants.
The proximity between the Canary Islands and Africa is not going to change
In light of the more than 5,000 people who arrived on the Canary Islands' coasts during the first weeks of November, mainly in El Hierro, and the interministerial meeting scheduled for this Tuesday in La Moncloa to address this reality, Luis Campos stressed that the Archipelago's proximity to the African continent is not going to change, nor are the circumstances that push thousands of people to leave their countries.
For this reason, he defended the need for "perfectly planned" contingency and action plans. He announced that UPC will take a migratory proposal to Congress and the Senate that places human rights at the center. "All migratory policies must have human rights at their core. It must be an absolutely nuclear element," he stated emphatically.
Among the measures that UPC will advocate for, as detailed, is the establishment of legal and safe routes to prevent migrants from having to resort to mafias and risk their lives during the journey. Also, the increase in resources allocated to international cooperation so that they can develop their life projects in their countries of origin, transfers, and the modification of the European Pact on Asylum and Migration, which, in his opinion, aims to turn territories like the Canary Islands, which are entry points for migratory flows, into "detention centers."
Likewise, he demanded more economic and health resources from the State Government, the reinforcement of Maritime Rescue, and a greater diplomatic deployment in the countries of origin of the migrants. He also demanded that the EU activate solidarity and distribution mechanisms among its member states.
Essential Response
Campos maintained that the transfers, both of minors and adults, constitute an essential measure to respond to the immediate situation the Archipelago is experiencing. A short-term solution, he stressed, which must be accompanied by humanitarian policies, state resources, diplomatic cooperation, and changes in common immigration policy.
He warned of the consequences of a government of the Popular Party and Vox, after November 29. If they form a government, Campos pointed out that, "let no one have the slightest doubt that if 1,000 migrants arrive in the Canary Islands, they will stay in the Canary Islands. If 10,000 migrants arrive in the Canary Islands, they will be forced to stay in the Canary Islands."
He denounced that these parties intend to prevent the communities where they govern on the Peninsula from assuming their share of responsibility and to turn the Archipelago into an "authentic open-air prison."
Interterritorial Solidarity
Ana Gloria Sánchez insisted that the response to this reality must be based on two inalienable principles, such as human rights and solidarity, both with migrants and among the different territories of the State.
The candidate for the Senate for Gran Canaria recalled that many of the people who arrive in the Canary Islands are fleeing situations of inequality that have persisted for a long time. People, according to Sánchez, abandon their land because "it has been plundered for many years, so now we cannot close the doors and pretend that nothing has happened here."
She focused on the contradiction of those who present migration as a problem, but then refuse to assume responsibilities when the territorial distribution of care for migrants is raised. The same parties that "said this was a problem, that it was very serious, then did not create the situation in their communities for it to be resolved," as she reproached.
“We do not want that situation to happen again,” he declared to insist that it is a reality that exists and will continue to exist, so the responsibility of attending to these people with dignity cannot fall exclusively on the Canary Islands. For Sánchez, interterritorial solidarity is essential.
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