Around fifteen residents of La Restinga (El Hierro, population 673) gathered at their quay on Friday to express their anger at what they see as the «neglect» they are subjected to by the authorities, given the overcrowding of the facilities caused by the incessant arrival of small boats carrying thousands of migrants.
The president of the El Hierro Island Council, Alpidio Armas (PSOE), has travelled to the port, where seven small boats have already arrived this Friday alone, and has appealed to the other islands to show solidarity by taking them in.
Armas has called on the presidents of the other island councils to help with the reception of migrants when an island lacks the capacity to do so, and has pointed out that, although these institutions have no powers in the area of immigration, they do have powers «in the spirit of solidarity».
El Hierro: New accommodation to ease the pressure on reception centres
The island’s president explained that the reception centres in Tenerife and Gran Canaria are full, which makes it difficult to transfer people from El Hierro, where, he said, there are «just over two thousand people».
He pointed out that the central government is working to set up the temporary reception centre for foreign nationals (CATE) in Granadilla (Tenerife), which, according to information provided to him by the government, could be operational this Friday or Saturday and would have capacity for just over 1,000 people.
That facility would ease the situation, although Armas has warned that, if the rate of arrivals continues, it will be necessary to set up further accommodation facilities.
Emergency accommodation: Armas admits to shortcomings and a lack of powers
The president of the Island Council has praised the patience of the residents of La Restinga, a town that relies on fishing, diving and tourism, and has stated that he «fully» understands their anger and sense of helplessness, which he said he shares in the face of a phenomenon he described as «extremely complex».
«All they have to do is give me a call and I’ll come and talk to them as many times as necessary,» said Armas, who added that he is prepared to face criticism in his role as president of the Cabildo, although he admitted that he neither has the solution nor the authority to resolve the matter.
Regarding emergency accommodation, he explained that several hundred migrants spent Thursday night in a warehouse in Majano to prevent them from having to sleep out in the open, in the rain and the night dew.
He has acknowledged that the facility is not suitable, but has argued that it was preferable to leaving them out in the open, and has indicated that work is under way to provide marquees or adapt other buildings in that area.
Armas pointed out that the Island Council has made the CATE site and the San Andrés sports centre available, and emphasised that it is cooperating with both the central government and the Canary Islands government, despite having no powers in the area of immigration.
La Restinga Harbour: Cayucos to be salvaged more quickly
As for the problems at the quay, he has announced that he expects to have the resources in place this Friday to remove the small boats and has explained that he intends to store them temporarily on a nearby plot of land, before transferring them to the recycling centre in the municipality of La Frontera.
As he pointed out, taking each boat directly to La Frontera would limit the number that could be removed to two or three a day, whereas grouping them together by the quay would make it possible to get them all out of the water in a single morning.
He also pointed out that the provision of a site for relocating the containers is pending the compulsory purchase of some land, the formalities for which he hopes are now in their final stages.
The island’s president added that he would look into how to collect waste water from boats, after local residents warned him that it was being dumped into the sea.
Work is also underway to explore the possibility of the diving centres in La Restinga operating from the nearby jetties.
Migration route: Armas defends checks off the coast of Senegal
Armas has also defended the measures being taken by the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, to prevent departures from Senegal, and has maintained that the boats arrive in El Hierro because it is the most direct route allowing them to evade maritime controls.
«There is no single solution, and anyone who says otherwise is lying,» said the president of the Cabildo, who called for a response involving Europe, the central government, the Canary Islands government and local authorities.
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