The President of the Canary Islands has once more criticized the Spanish Government for not doing enough to ease the burden on the island group of having to care for several thousand migrant children — despite court decisions in his favor.
The president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, has made a statement to the effect of claiming that Black migrant children in any part of Spain are regarded as unwanted.
He said that neither people living in the Canaries nor the central government in Madrid seem to "want little Black children."
"That is the reality," Clavijo further stated.
The government of the Canary Islands has been in a years-long dispute with Madrid on easing the burden of migrant arrivals -- in particular minors -- on the archipelago.
Although there has been some progress towards mainland Spain accepting underage minors and transferring them from the island group to the mainland following a number of court rulings, the Canaries remain overwhelmed with several thousand minors mainly from sub-Saharan Africa needing food, shelter and education.
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Clavijo: 'no respect for the human rights of minors'
Canaries' President Clavijo had made the divisive statement during the plenary session of the Parliament of the Canary Islands in response to a series of questions being posed about the progress of the Conference of Presidents last week, where the leaders of all 17 autonomous communities of Spain gathered to discuss migrant redistribution, among other things.
Clavijo added that this legislative process is unlikely to yield any sufficient results, adding that the redistribution of migrant minors from the Canary Islands will only sufficiently succeed if it is mandated by the courts.
"Progress is only going to be made because it is ordered by the courts, not because of the political will to respect the human rights of minors, nor out of solidarity with the Canary Islands people, who are alone facing this drama and doing what they can to provide care for these children," he said.
According to Clavijo, Spain's Secretary of State for Migration only requested a meeting with him to discuss the way forward when the Supreme Court threatened to fine the Spanish government for not complying with court decisions.
According to Spanish law, the autonomous regions remain responsible for any irregular migrants that arrive there as long as they are underage.
For adults, there is a redistribution scheme in effect.
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President Clavijo also hinted at the next moves his autonomous government might choose to take to affect change in the issue
He said that his government would not hesitate to take any of Spain's autonomous communities to court if they refused to comply with the law.
In addition to court rulings, Spain's immigration law itself was recently amended to enable the distribution of migrant minors from the Canary Islands to other parts of the country.
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with EFE