Friday, August 18, 2006
Canaries 'facing migrant crisis'
It must be true, the BBC are reporting it: "Spain's Canary Islands can no longer cope with the soaring number of illegal immigrants arriving from Africa, local leaders say. Regional government chief Adan Martin called on the Spanish authorities in Madrid to form an emergency cabinet and provide more aid."
Martín is also asking for changes in the law concerning minors, report La Opinion, because the current provisions were not made to include these migrants. There are currently 649 minors, who arrived unaccompanied, in care centers in the archipelago. Under current legislation, the state is obliged to take them in. This represents an annual direct cost of 30,000 Euros each.
Social Services say that neither Central Government, nor the European Community are conscious of the magnitude of the problem and have so far only offered 2 million euros to solve this already, 19.5 million euro problem.
An average of five more minors arrive to the Canary Islands coasts daily.
Canaries 'facing migrant crisis'
