A group of 54 migrants rescued this Tuesday from the cayuco in which they were traveling in waters near Gran Canaria.quique curbelo / EFE
The Government of Spain will finally open its first reception centers for immigrants to attend the incessant flow of immigrants who arrive on the islands, according to sources from the Secretary of State for Migration.
The opening of these centers has been a constant claim on the part of the Government of the Canary Islands and the NGOs that have cared for immigrants for years, although the demand has increased in tone with the rise in arrivals and the added difficulties that it has imposed the coronavirus pandemic.
The reactivation of the Canarian route has forced the Government Delegation to improvise accommodations that, in general, do not meet minimum standards.
Thus, migrants have arrived overnight in recent weeks in docks (such as Arinaga in Gran Canaria or Arrecife in Lanzarote), in port ships (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria), Canarian fighting grounds (Arinaga in Gran Canaria or even in tourist complexes (Maspalomas and Fuerteventura.) For months, both the regional government and the town councils and city councils have provided a large part of the facilities used for the reception of migrants.
The opening, however, will have to wait a few months.
"Due to the processing times it requires, it has been decided to deploy temporary resources that allow hundreds of people to be housed in decent conditions," the sources assured.
The Secretary of State has defended its work in the current migration crisis.
“In October 2019”, the sources explained, “The Canary Islands had less than 100 reception places, compared to the current 2,000, 600 of which we have created in the last two weeks”.
The central government has spent months testing possible sites for these future reception centers, for which the Ministry of Defense would have considered abandoned facilities.
Ángel Víctor Torres insisted this Monday precisely on the idea of using the military installations.
"We are worse than ever; the housing conditions are worse than those seen in some countries such as South Sudan, Angola or Iraq," says Abián Montesdeoca, pediatrician for the Canary Islands Health Service.
The complex situation of immigration in the Canary Islands will be discussed this Wednesday at the
Canary Immigration Forum
, in which the Secretary of State for Migration, Hana Jalloul, will participate electronically, together with the President of the Government of the Canary Islands. and the president of the LIBE Commission of the European Parliament, Juan Fernando López Aguilar.
Arrivals
The Canary Islands have received more than 4,000 immigrants so far this year.
This figure has multiplied almost seven times compared to 2019. On Tuesday alone, 160 people arrived in six different boats and canoes to the coasts of Gran Canaria and Tenerife.
The last of these boats, located five miles off the coast to the south of Tenerife, was carrying a corpse, as confirmed by sources from Salvamento Marítimo.
These Tuesday arrivals add up to more than 200 over the weekend on 11 other vessels.
The flow of human beings, together with the cancellation of transfers to the peninsula, has exceeded the accommodation capacity, especially in Gran Canaria, and has deteriorated the conditions in which people are housed, classified as "deplorable" and "Inhuman" by Abián Montesdeoca, pediatrician at the Canary Islands Health Service.
Montesdeoca has been assigned to a special device since March that treats the disease and that monitors the health status of migrant minors.
"We are worse than ever", he assures, and explains the panorama in facilities that are not cleaned, in which the absence of showers and toilet facilities prevails, where ventilation is terrible;
non-existent social distance measures;
where there are no spaces to carry out cures or medical consultations, with the garbage containers inside the warehouse itself and in which adults and minors are forced to sleep on the floor.
"The housing conditions are worse than what he has seen in some countries like South Sudan, Angola or Iraq."
Montesdeoca also recalls that under these conditions it is impossible to maintain any type of preventive measure and that those who contract the disease are not quarantined, but remain crammed into the same space.
Migrations denies the 'sit-in' of Escrivá
Sources from the Secretary of State for Migration rejected this Tuesday that the Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, José Luis Escrivá, had canceled the trip to the Canary Islands.
"The visit is still scheduled on the agenda, since, although different dates were handled this month, none had been confirmed for scheduling reasons," they assured.
The president of the Canary Islands Government, Ángel Víctor Torres, did not hide his "deep discomfort" yesterday when he had to publicly acknowledge that the minister had postponed his visit to the Islands, initially scheduled for this Wednesday.
