The President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, said on Monday that he is awaiting a response from the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, to the letter he sent him calling for six urgent measures to be taken to tackle the consequences of the arrival of migrants, and he has condemned the government’s «contempt» towards this issue and towards the Canary Islands themselves.
Clavijo referred to the letter he had sent to Sánchez in comments made to the media before taking part in an event in Bilbao, alongside other regional presidents and the Minister for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service, Óscar López, at a conference organised by NTT Data to present the Future Government Centre, a space for analysis, innovation and collaboration in public administration.
In that letter, the contents of which were made public on Sunday, the President of the Canary Islands calls on the Prime Minister, amongst other measures, to convene an extraordinary meeting of the Canary Islands-State Security Council, to approve a contingency plan for the coming months and to secure greater involvement from the European Union.
Canary Islands: Clavijo calls for more EU aid on migration
It also asks him to demand the activation of the relevant solidarity mechanisms under the European Pact on Migration and Asylum, as well as greater operational and financial support, greater involvement of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) within the scope of its remit, and an effective sharing of responsibilities amongst Member States.
These requests come against a backdrop of a surge in arrivals by sea to the archipelago, according to the Canary Islands Government, which points out that at least 3,873 people have arrived on the islands this October, of whom 2,835 landed on the island of El Hierro.
Canary Islands: Clavijo laments the lack of a response and coordination
Clavijo has pointed out that he does not know whether Pedro Sánchez «will be very busy or not» with his pre-election campaign schedule, but he has said that «the ideal and reasonable course of action» would be for him to respond to a formal request from the Canary Islands Government to discuss the matter, even though such requests had already been made previously.
He has criticised the lack of planning and the failure to respond to three letters that the Canary Islands Government has sent to the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, calling on him to convene the Security Council, which, in his view, demonstrates «negligence and contempt both for the migration issue and for the Canary Islands themselves».
The situation on El Hierro, he added, is becoming increasingly complex, «and the sad thing is that exactly what we said would happen months ago is now coming to pass».
He added that migrants are being transferred from El Hierro to other islands and that the Canary Islands Government «has no information». «I do not believe this is either reasonable or, at the very least, desirable; ideally, the authorities should work together to look after these migrants and ensure that the public is kept informed,» he stressed.
Intelligence service warned of the return of the Atlantic route
Clavijo has stated that reports from the National Intelligence Centre (CNI) had already warned of this surge in migration.
He pointed out that it had been anticipated that small boats and canoes would arrive again by the end of the year, but given the situation in Ceuta and the shift in focus and controls towards the north, it was «more than obvious that the Atlantic route was going to be reactivated».
«We do not understand why there is no contact with the Canary Islands authorities, why we are not preparing to receive them, and why no arrangements are being made to accommodate them with dignity, whilst also ensuring that the Canary Islands do not have to bear the entire burden of migration,» he emphasised.
«We are seeing that Ceuta is set to remain a buffer zone in the north, the Canary Islands a buffer zone in the south, and the State is neither present nor expected,» he remarked.
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