Fernando Clavijo reiterates the need to articulate means “to accelerate bone tests and be able to relocate minors”
The President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo and the Secretary of State for Social Services, Ana Lima, accompanied by the President of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Pedro San Ginés and the Minister of Employment, Social Policies and Housing, Cristina Valido, and their respective teams visited on Monday the resources destined to the attention of unaccompanied foreign minors in the Island, in La Santa in the municipality of Tinajo and in Yaiza.
Fernando Clavijo was satisfied with the visit of the Secretary of State “as it fulfills the commitment that Pedro Sánchez acquired to verify the real situation and not merely the numbers that often do not reflect the real impact on the territory”. “Canarias” -continued the president- “has given a coordinated response to the arrival of unaccompanied foreign minors and as we have always shown our solidarity”. The president insisted that minors who emigrate seek “simply a better future and we must give an answer in compliance with the law.” To questions about the criteria of the Royal Decree on the distribution of 40 million euros between the autonomous communities, Clavijo said that “this is not the time to talk about the distribution of money but it is important that bone tests are accelerated and articulate the means to be able to relocate the children to comply with the law and offer guarantees such as schooling, training,
Ana Lima, Secretary of State for Social Services described as “fast” the State’s action with the Royal Decree of distribution of credits for the autonomous communities that hosted minors, in addition to the creation of “an inter-territorial table of which several ministries are part , the autonomous communities to be able to articulate aid in the best way possible, besides establishing protocols and models of attention and coordination “. Lima did not rule out that in the next few years the distribution criteria will be modified so that Canarias only agreed to 433,000 euros out of the 38 million that were distributed, although he recalled that they have “two million for the possibility of a seasonal rebound”.
The Social Policy counselor, Cristina Valido, who was present at the visit together with her child protection team, announced that “the Town Councils have agreed to increase the quota that was approved in the 2006 sectoral conference, raising the quota to 400. From from there we will have to look for solutions at the hand of the State “. Valido also reported that they have already been diverted to other 80 smaller islands, and if that continues, we could have the centers fully normalized and all the islands responding to the number of minors they have committed to. “
The counselor, in the same sense as the president of the Canary Islands, expressed his satisfaction with the visit and being able to “see the children, up close, talk with them and listen to their concerns”.
For his part, the president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Pedro San Ginés, reiterated his concern about the increase in the arrival of unaccompanied minors in recent weeks and that motivated “the use of a center that is not prepared to accommodate so many children “and insisted on” the need for arbitration measures that allow the transfer of children to other islands and even to other autonomous communities if necessary. “
At present, there are 339 children in the Canary Islands, of whom 80 are still without proof to determine their age. The Government of the Canary Islands has proposed to the State that one of the main problems when dealing with the arrival of foreign minors is, on the one hand, the lack of places in the network of standardized centers of the Island Councils and on the other hand that these centers they are occupied by helpless children from broken families and the problems of foreign children arriving in a boat are not of a family nature but simply that they believe that there is a better future here than in their country, so you have to start working in another direction , hence the foolishness of launching specialized resources.
Regarding the types of resources needed, it is necessary to differentiate between two types of centers: the one of first reception or emergency, such as the case of La Santa in which there are 75 minors and in which they remain at least until the Prosecutor’s Office confirms its Minority of age. From these resources would be derived to specialized centers in the care of foreign minors with specialized personnel in the treatment of this type of especially vulnerable population, who know their culture, their customs, their religion with cultural mediators who are capable of overcoming the language barrier, centers with a space for the practice of their religious rituals, where they are respected their eating habits according to their customs and religion.
From these resources will begin the integration into the society to which they have just arrived. They will join the public teaching service, perform sports with the youth of their neighborhood and their environment, attend the resources they need and participate in leisure activities and free time as the rest of the population.
Once the period of adaptation and integration has been completed and if it is valued in that sense, they could be derived to resources of the network of centers and homes of the Island Councils.
The Government of the Canary Islands has also raised the need for the State Government to work on the regrouping of minors with their families, both in Morocco and those in other autonomous communities, as recommended by the different Human Rights Letters
