Two weekly transfers: the first minor asylum seekers arrive from the Canary Islands

MadridTen migrant minors seeking asylum who until now had been in the Canary Islands are now on the Peninsula. This Monday, the Spanish government began the transfer of these young people, thus complying with the Supreme Court order requiring it to take responsibility for a thousand minors who, upon arriving in the Canary Islands, requested international protection and have been accredited. Sources from the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration explain that, following this first transfer, two weekly transfers of small groups of minors are expected, which will be carried out in coordination with the Canary Islands government. In total, approximately 800 unaccompanied minors will be transferred, sources from the ministry told ARA. The remaining young people, up to a thousand, are staying in the Canary Islands because they have preferred to do so for reasons of establishing a stronghold.

On March 25, the Supreme Court determined that the State should take charge, with its resources, of the thousand unaccompanied migrant minors who had requested asylum in the Canary Islands. The decision responded to precautionary measures requested by the Canary Islands government. Five months later, the Spanish government responded to the young people with their first transfer.

In parallel with this transfer, the central government must also channel the mandatory distribution agreed between autonomous communities of the remaining unaccompanied migrant minors in the Canary Islands. In this case, the Ministry of Children and Social Rights intends for them to begin being transferred by the end of August, despite the rejection of the PP-backed autonomous communities. Catalonia, which was not included in the distribution, will voluntarily host around thirty minors.

The minors who have requested international assistance will be accompanied by staff from collaborating entities, as well as by professionals from the ministry, already designated by the State Secretary for Migration, according to ministerial sources. The objective is to ensure that "their integrity, well-being, and best interests [of the child] take priority in the transfer and relocation process." Regarding resources, the State already has approximately 750 places available, which are part of the 1,200 places approved by the Council of Ministers to host these minors on the Peninsula. A budget of 40 million euros was also approved for its implementation. The ministry will not announce how the distribution will be by territory due to child protection concerns.

Racist tensions are on the rise.

Many of the migrant minors who began arriving this Monday are fleeing armed conflicts and arrive completely alone. In fact, sources from the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, under the leadership of Elma Sanz, indicated that, although this is a diverse group, the vast majority of those who requested international protection are young people originally from Mali, as well as girls who require differentiated attention for gender and security reasons.

The transfer of these minors coincides with a time when racism and xenophobia are marking the political debate – in recent days due to the veto that the PP and Vox have proposed in Jumella (Murcia) on Islamic celebrations, but before that, because of the riots in Torre Pacheco. But also the debate and the events on the streets, which have set off alarm bells among organizations fighting against discrimination.

In the city of Barcelona alone, in 2024, discrimination cases soared by 27%, to 1,102. In 30% of all of them, that is, in 314 incidents, the main reasons for discrimination were racism and xenophobia, as revealed by the annual report on discrimination published this Monday by the Barcelona Discrimination Observatory. According to the same report, both attacks have not only continued to grow in recent years, but in 2024 they reached the highest record in the city. "The presence of discriminatory or hate speech in the social and political sphere increases this discrimination," the report warns.

In this sense, the transfers of migrant minors to the Peninsula have not been free from political tension, especially between the Spanish government and the PP-led regional governments, fueling hate speech. Regarding the transfer of minors who have requested asylum, the PP has not opposed it, especially because there is a court order behind it. However, in the case of Madrid, some steps have been taken to the limit, or at least that's how the ministry headed by Sanz interprets it. Since the state must take charge of these minors, they must be transferred to state-run reception centers, and the municipality of Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid), where one of these centers is located, has decided to temporarily close it due to an alleged "urban planning irregularity." The PP-led city council argued that it lacked a license for residential use. However, the ministry interprets this as a preemptive rejection of the minors' arrival.

On the other hand, the PP has expressed opposition to the mandatory distribution of the remaining unaccompanied migrant minors. In fact, at the last meeting with the autonomous communitiesCeuta, where migration pressure is growing steadily, was the only territory governed by the Popular Party (PP) that attended. In principle, the regions are required to provide information on their current situation and, subsequently, to accept the distribution if they do not wish to break the law. The government intends to begin this process at the end of August. "There will be no exceptions [in the reception]," warned Minister Elma Sanz.

Migration pressure is growing in the south

This weekend, around 100 young migrants attempted to swim across Ceuta. Many of them were intercepted by the Moroccan Navy before reaching Spanish waters, while seven young people succeeded, according to the news agency. EfeThe migrants attempted to swim across from Morocco despite the bad weather, taking advantage of the poor visibility, although it was more dangerous.

This group of young people joins the fifty unaccompanied Moroccan minors who reached Ceuta at the end of July, also swimming across the border with Morocco, in the Tarajal and Benzú areas.. The regional government of Ceuta has asked Pedro Sánchez's government to intervene in what it considers an "unsustainable" situation: according to Efe, The autonomous city houses more than 500 minors, although it only has 132 available places.