The Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid (CEAR) warned on Thursday of the difficulties in implementing the new European Pact on Migration and Asylum due to a lack of training, staff, clear guidelines and financial resources, and called for the protection of the rights of migrants and asylum seekers to be guaranteed.
The chief executives of CEAR, Mauricio Valiente and Mónica López, have raised these concerns with the President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, at a meeting in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, during which they also discussed the situation regarding the Atlantic Route and the implications of the new European framework for the archipelago.
Speaking to the press, Valiente pointed out that an agreement which has taken years to finalise should have been adequately prepared for implementation, and warned that a lack of resources is hampering the progress of administrative procedures.
CEAR: Lack of resources is delaying new asylum procedures
«Administrative action cannot be based solely on good faith. There must be clear instructions, staff and also financial resources,» he concluded.
The head of CEAR explained that changes to the care provided to minors and to the information that must be gathered during interviews can delay proceedings when there are insufficient resources.
He added that the difficulties are not confined to Spain, but have also been identified in other EU Member States.
During its meeting with Clavijo, CEAR thanked the Canary Islands Government for the role it has played in supporting migrants, minors and asylum seekers, and emphasised the need to maintain dialogue between institutions in order to tackle this issue with concrete measures.
CEAR condemns harassment and insists on the right to migration
Valiente has also warned of the rise in xenophobia and has called on political leaders to act responsibly when discussing immigration.
As he has pointed out, CEAR has never before witnessed a situation in which social organisations have been subjected to such harassment as at present, which hinders the normal conduct of their humanitarian work.
«Immigration is a reality that is not going to change; it is a structural fact, and it is important to be able to address it rationally,» he said.
With regard to migrant children, the Director-General of CEAR has called for compliance with the legal framework and pointed out that, when their relatives are located, the priority is family reunification, whilst, where this is not possible, the procedures laid down to ensure their protection must be followed.
He has also questioned the European Union’s decision to consider amending aspects of its migration policy before assessing the implementation of the recently drawn up pact.
Clavijo also criticises the European Pact
For his part, Clavijo echoed these concerns, highlighting the difficulties in implementing the new European framework and criticising the fact that the implementation of the new Migration and Asylum Pact is «more complex and offers fewer safeguards for people’s rights», as well as hampering the work of civil servants and NGOs due to a lack of planning and resources to carry out the procedures.
In his view, the European Union sought to hold migrants in border areas, and this objective may have led to a procedure that is «so complex and offers so few safeguards», with the aim of discouraging arrivals.
«But that’s not going to happen; we’re seeing it in the Canary Islands,» said Clavijo, who expressed concern that the migration flow might intensify towards the end of the year.
Canary Islands call for more funding and dialogue with Madrid
He has also called for more resources to be allocated to migrant care in the Canary Islands, particularly on El Hierro, where he has called for a stable provision of healthcare and transport services.
He pointed out that the Canary Islands will continue to provide emergency care at the on-quay triage point, but argued that the Ministry must provide resources to care for those arriving, as, he noted, is the case in Ceuta, and extend the agreement with the Red Cross.
Clavijo pointed out that his administration has still not received a reply to the communications it has sent to the central government and has called for dialogue between the two administrations to coordinate resources and measures in response to the arrivals.
«I cannot conceive of the public management of something so important not being handled on a government-to-government basis,» he said, whilst expressing his bewilderment at the lack of dialogue with the State Secretariat for Migration at a time when arrivals in the archipelago are on the rise.
Furthermore, Clavijo pointed out that the Canary Islands Government continues to monitor the situation of migrant children and expressed his hope that it would not be necessary to take the matter to the Supreme Court again in order to ensure that the relevant obligations are met.
«I would prefer not to have to go before the Supreme Court again, but rather for this matter to be resolved,» he added.
The President has called for the authorities to continue carrying out the necessary work and maintaining the necessary coordination to tackle the migration situation, regardless of the election campaign.
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