Government Accelerates Transfer of Refugee Minors from the Canary Islands

The Government has presented a new schedule to the regional Executive this Tuesday during the weekly meeting between both administrations. It was announced that, within 15 days, a total of 39 refugee minors will leave the Archipelago to join those already approved.

Increased Transfers

In the coming 15 days, the Government will relocate at least five groups of asylum-seeking minors from the Canary Islands to state accommodation facilities on the mainland, thereby increasing the current pace from two groups per week. According to the Canarian Executive, the State has informed them that next week, 39 asylum-seeking minors will depart from the Archipelago, which will add to the 20 already approved for this week. The latter are scheduled to leave this Wednesday, 3rd September.

The Government presented this new calendar to the Canary Islands on Tuesday, with the 15-day notice provided during the weekly meeting shared by both administrations, as reported by sources from the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration.

Commitment to Support

The central Executive initiated the process in August to accommodate a thousand unaccompanied minors seeking international protection currently in the Canary Islands, fulfilling an order issued by the Supreme Court last March following the precautionary measures requested by the Island.

In statements released to the media, the Secretary of State for Migrations, Pilar Cancela, emphasised that this September will see the Government’s commitment to “increase and even double the transfers” made each week.

This will also enable an increase in the number of minors who can leave the Canary Islands, with the state referral centre in Las Palmas expected to facilitate this transition to the mainland. Cancela highlighted that this period of collaboration has strengthened the coordination between the central Government and that of the Canary Islands.

Legal Obligations Met

The Supreme Court ordered the central Government to take responsibility for the care of a thousand unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors, an obligation the Executive is fulfilling while also facilitating the transfer of another 3,000 migrant minors from the Canary Islands, Ceuta, and Melilla to accommodation resources in other autonomous communities.

The destinations for these asylum-seeking minors will be centres or resources that fall under the purview of the central Government, although it has been decided not to publicly disclose the new locations of these children and adolescents to ensure their safety.

Before transferring the minors, the managing entity, Engloba, conducts an individualised report to guarantee the best interest of each child, who then becomes an asylum seeker, as detailed by the Executive.

The majority of minors entering this process have a “highly vulnerable” profile, with many having fled wars alone. Nearly 90% are from Mali, and among them are girls and adolescents, according to ministerial sources.