The Supreme Court warns the Spanish government of sanctions if it fails to take charge of unaccompanied minors sheltered in the Canary Islands.
The court criticized the executive branch for not complying with its order two months later and urged it to facilitate asylum applications.
BarcelonaIt's been more than two months since the Supreme Court gave the Spanish government 10 days to take charge of a thousand unaccompanied migrant minors being sheltered in the Canary Islands. Now the Supreme Court has found a "clear failure" to comply with this order and has issued a new ultimatum to the Spanish government to take urgent measures regarding the children sheltered and seeking asylum. This time, the order is accompanied by a warning: failure to comply exposes political leaders to "coercive measures" that may include sanctions and even criminal liability.
"So far, more than two months later, none of the minors seeking international protection, or who have expressed their willingness to seek it, who are under the guardianship and custody of the autonomous community of the Canary Islands, have been individually assessed for access to the state reception system for applicants for international protection," a document consulted by ARA, which confirms that the Spanish government has not complied with the precautionary order that the court issued at the end of March at the request of the Canary Islands government.
Once the Supreme Court's order was announced, the Minister of Youth and Children, Sira Rego, stated that there will be "demanding work by all ministries to find a solution as soon as possible." She also assured that "a protocol already exists, which has been transferred to the Canary Islands, which would allow the situation to be resolved fairly quickly."
Seeing that the order has not been complied with, the Supreme Court now grants a "non-extendable period of 30 days" for the offices in charge of processing applications for international protection to have the necessary means to ensure that the requests are responded to "within a reasonable time." It also warns that no more than six days may pass from the time a person states that they wish to request international protection until they can formalize their application. The court urges the state executive to establish, within a maximum of 15 days, "the most effective way" to collaborate with the Canary Islands government to ensure that these minors have access to the full reception system that is available to them as applicants for international protection.
Along with this new order, the court demands that the Spanish government identify who is responsible for the measures to be taken in each ministry—if not, it will be understood that it is the head of the ministry—and warns that if it does not inform the court that it has taken the measures ordered, the court may take "coercive measures" for failure to comply. The law regulating these reprisals includes the possibility of fines from 150 to 1,500 euros, which may be repeated; "other financial liabilities," and even the option of initiating criminal proceedings.
Applicants for international protection
During these two months, the judges add, the Spanish government has "not even" compiled a "complete, detailed, and accurate" list of those affected. Therefore, despite the fact that it is known to number around a thousand, the administration does not have a concrete figure. The Supreme Court also points out that a year after arriving in the archipelago, many of these children have still not been able to formalize their asylum application to gain international protection status. Furthermore, the judges add that the Spanish government did not contact the Canary Islands government to request assistance in completing the individualized documentation for the minors until the days "immediately prior" to the hearing, which was convened after seeing that the Spanish government was not complying with the precautionary order.
The Supreme Court finds it clear that these minors have a "full right" to be recognized as applicants for international protection, a status recognized by European and domestic law, which "includes a whole set of rights, not just material or welfare rights," which are not being recognized for children in care in the Canary Islands "regardless of their situation." These rights include the right to remain in Spain while their application is processed; the right to free legal assistance and an interpreter; the right to suspend any return, expulsion, or extradition proceedings; and access to the education system or to obtain a work permit if they are of working age.
