A total of 4,931 children and unaccompanied minors arrived in the Canary Islands since the beginning of last year. The archipelago has requested support from other Iberian regions to help relocate them.
The Canary Islands have called on other Iberian regions for support and solidarity in relocating close to 5,000 children and unaccompanied teens, who recently have arrived on the islands.
About 40% of all underage migrants coming to Spain in 2023 landed on the archipelago, meaning 4,931 children in total. The shelter system of the Canary Islands is now facing great pressure by this steep influx of underage migrant arrivals.
The adult migrant population currently hosted by the Canary Islands meanwhile stands only at 2,400; this comes after 14,000 adult migrants where transferred to mainland Spain in the course of the past year.
Request for change in law
While Spain's central government is responsible for providing care for adults, the responsibility for unaccompanied minors falls on the individual Iberian regions, with relocations of youths being part of a voluntary mechanism.
The administration of the Canaries has therefore called for an amendment of the law, as that "mechanism of voluntary inter-territorial solidarity hasn't worked."
Hundreds of migrants, including unaccompanied minors, meanwhile continue to pour into the island group; between Christmas and New Year's, hundreds of new arrivals were registered on the archipelago.
2023 saw an overall increase of migrant arrivals of 140% compared to 2022, when a total of 15,682 arrivals were registered, according to the figures of the Spanish Commission for Refugees (CEAR).
Experts fear the same trend is likely to continue into 2024.