Migrant situation in Spain’s Canary Islands ‘unsustainable,’ says president

OVIEDO, Spain

After a record-breaking year of migrant arrivals, the president of Spain’s Canary Islands called the situation on the islands “unsustainable” on Monday.

“If we’re talking about storing children away and letting people sleep outside, we have the space,” Fernando Clavijo told broadcaster Cadena Ser. “But if we’re talking about attending to the people in accordance with their human rights, we do not have the capacity.”

In recent days, thousands of migrants have arrived or been rescued in small boats traveling to the Canary Islands from northwest Africa.

In the year through Dec. 15, a record-breaking 44,700 people successfully made the perilous journey, according to Spain’s Interior Ministry. A recent report by the NGO Walking Borders estimates that nearly 10,500 died trying.

Following the wave of arrivals, Clavijo said the islands, with a population of around 2.2 million, are now hosting nearly 6,000 unaccompanied child migrants.

When they arrive in Spain, the children are placed under state care and have legal rights that compel authorities to offer them proper education and protection.

Clavijo said some of the island’s centers for minors are hosting 300 children, even though they are designed to hold a maximum of 20.

“There is a roof and a bathroom, yes, but we are absolutely not able to offer psychological help, and these are children with trauma, who have seen everything in these boats. We cannot teach them Spanish. These are their rights, which oblige us to guarantee a life project for these minors,” he explained.

He criticized both the Spanish government and the main opposition party — the Popular Party in Madrid — for failing to relocate minors to mainland Spain.

“Both are leaving the Canary Islands, as well as all of these children, alone in the face of an unprecedented migration crisis,” he said. “The Spanish government isn’t acting and intervening despite having the power to do so, and the Popular Party is blocking (any agreements).”

The Spanish government has proposed a long-term solution to make the redistribution of child migrants automatic, but it has been blocked by the Popular Party.

Clavijo said his government proposed an extraordinary measure to relocate 4,000 underage migrants to the rest of Spain, but it has been ignored by Madrid.

“That means we would keep around 1,800, which is still a lot for us, but it would allow us to treat them with dignity,” he said.

Earlier this year, the Popular Party was reportedly close to backing the Spanish government’s plan. However, the far-right party Vox threatened to block all of its budget proposals in regions where its support was needed.

In the summer, Vox also broke several regional governing pacts with the Popular Party after the conservative party decided to accommodate 400 young migrants in the regions it controlled.