it's not just a USA problem...................
Thousands of migrant kids have reached the Canary Islands alone. Local officials want Spain’s helphttps://apnews.com/article/spain-canary-islands-migrants-unaccompanied-minors-503e85f16fd567252ebb6a2f7a5be5ecTuesday, Spain’s parliament rejected a legislative proposal that would have forced other regions to take responsibility for some of the minors currently stuck on the Canaries in dire conditions.
The proposal, which sparked a national debate and political crisis, was rejected on Tuesday evening with 177 votes against it, 171 votes for it and 1 abstention.
Under Spanish law, the regional authorities where the children arrive are responsible for their guardianship. But the Canary Islands government says it is overwhelmed, with more than 5,500 minors — far above its capacity for 2,000.
“It’s a humanitarian catastrophe,” said Francisco Candil, a regional government official in charge of social welfare.
Not only do the Canary Islands lack physical space, but the regional government is struggling to hire professionals trained to work with the young migrants on the islands located some 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) from mainland Spain.
As a result, the children and teenagers languishing on the islands are not receiving the protections they are entitled to under Spanish and European law, including education and healthcare. Spanish media have reported overcrowded centers as well as cases of abuse and mistreatment. On the island of Lanzarote, authorities have set up temporary tents to accommodate the new arrivals.
Candil warned that the situation is only expected to deteriorate as boats keep sailing from the coasts of Senegal, Mauritania and the Western Sahara to the Spanish islands just 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Africa’s western coast.
Nearly 20,000 men, women and children have reached the Canaries so far this year, a 160% increase from 2023. And that’s even before the high season for migrant crossings begins in the fall, Candil added.
Earlier this year, the EU signed a 210 million euro deal with Mauritania to stop smugglers from launching boats for Spain. But the deal has had little effect on migrant arrivals for now.
Should the bill not pass for consideration in the Spanish parliament “it would be a failure for Spain and Europe,” Candil said before Tuesday’s vote. With a population of 48 million people, it shouldn’t be difficult for regions in mainland Spain to cope with a few hundred children, he argued. The Canary Islands would still care for the majority of unaccompanied minors.
