Child migrants the “responsibility of Spanish state”

The Canarian Government has stated that it will now regard unaccompanied child migrants as responsibility of the Spanish state and accused state forces of not following protocols.

The declaration follows an incident in El Hierro, when national police officers denounced a charity after it refused to accept six young migrants because it had no room or resources for them.

Canarian President Fernando Clavijo claims that such incidents show that the Spanish state is not following established protocols, and that police should not be able to simply dump migrants on charities and threaten their staff with legal consequences in the case of refusal. 

Clavijo chaired a meeting yesterday afternoon which reiterated the declaration of migratory emergency, requested more staff and resources for reception of migrants and called for police and other state-run bodies to comply with protocols. His position has won the support of all political parties present, including the opposition Socialists and Nueva Canaries parties. 

Clavijo said that until now the law had relied on the understanding that unaccompanied migrants are “abandoned or homeless” and are the responsibility of the regional government. While not disagreeing with this, he said that state bodies such as Maritime Rescue and the police have already assumed responsibility for migrants by registering them. 

Summer has seen a rise of almost 20% in arrivals of pateras (migrant boats) to the Canaries and the number is expected to increase in the calmer autumn months. Changes in the chosen routes means that is now the western islands that receive the majority of arrivals.

The Canarian Government has been pleading for more support from the national government for several months.