Virginia Barcones explains that Castilla y León welcomes 395 immigrants from the Canary Islands

• The delegate of the Government in Castilla y León appears together with Daniel Duque, territorial delegate of Accem, NGO in charge of managing the migratory situation • The Balneario de Las Salinas of Medina del Campo will host between 15 days and a month 250 immigrants. 183 arrived last Tuesday and another 67 will arrive tomorrow • Another 145 foreign citizens from the archipelago are already distributed in six provinces of Castilla y León • During the first days of the War of Ukraine, Accem and the Red Cross managed the arrival of more than 2,000 people to Castilla y León who fled the conflict

October 25, 2023.- The delegate of the Government in Castilla y León, Virginia Barcones, has appeared this afternoon together with the territorial delegate of the NGO Accem, Daniel Duque, to explain the situation in Castilla y León after the decision of the Government to move immigrants from the Canary Islands to relieve the migratory tension that the archipelago is experiencing. In total, 395 immigrants have arrived in Castilla y León as a result of this migratory pressure in the Canary Islands.

The delegate of the Government explained that the Hotel Palacio Balneario de las Salinas in Medina del Campo is going to welcome 250 immigrants from the Canary Islands. 183 of those citizens arrived last Tuesday while the rest, 67, will do so tomorrow.

To this group we must add another 145 migrants from the Canary Islands that the NGO Accem has already been in charge of distributing throughout several provinces of Castilla y León. In particular, the distribution of these migrants in recent days has been as follows in some capitals: León (22) Ávila (25), Burgos (25), Valladolid (25), Salamanca (23) and Segovia (25). “These are migrants who have already been housed by Accem and are already receiving care and attention,” said Barcones.

Accem is the NGO in charge of managing this migratory situation in the Community. During the first days of the Ukrainian War, Accem and the Red Cross managed the arrival of more than 2,000 people to Castile and Leon fleeing the conflict.

Virginia Barcones, who has reiterated on several occasions that people are being talked about, has indicated that the 395 places are those initially planned for Castilla y León although Accem can enable more places if necessary due to migratory pressure in the Canary Islands.

The stay of these migrants will be extended for 15 days and one month except for those who, due to the situation arising in their country, may have access to the request for International Protection. In that case, the resources that are stipulated in the current legislation would be activated and their stay may be extended for a longer time.

Virginia Barcones has indicated that this arrival of emigrants is considerably lower than the previous migratory crisis in Spain, which took place on the occasion of the War of Ukraine. “The current situation is 20% compared to the crisis in Ukraine,” he said.

“Today we have heard reflections of the most varied. Castilla y León is a land of solidarity and it would not be good to hear about diseases and other aspects that I will not appreciate. Yes, I will say that our immigration emergency system is highly valued. Nobody leaves anywhere in the country without having passed a triage where it is guaranteed that there is no type of infectious disease,” said Virginia Barcones, who added that emigration cannot be related to insecurity, a “fallacy that dismantles the objective data.”

The delegate of the Government explained that throughout the day, in the wake of the migratory crisis unleashed during the previous hours, she has been in contact with the departments of the Junta de Castilla y León, Social Services and Health, to report on the evolution of the arrival of migrants. He has also spoken with the mayor of Medina del Campo, the municipality of the Community to which a greater number of migrants have arrived.

THE GOVERNMENT, DUMPED WITH THE CANARIES

The Executive is focused with the Canary Islands in the face of the increase in the migratory flow to the islands. For this reason, all necessary measures have been taken and will continue to be taken.

The system implemented in the Canary Islands to manage arrivals is working, thanks to the infrastructures created in recent years and the reinforcements that have been put in place. However, in times of maximum tension such as now, with peaks of arrival of immigrants, it is necessary to make derivations to alleviate the situation in the islands.

The government delegate has said that these referrals are made “in a timely, orderly, safe and legal manner within the reception system.” It is a question of distributing a part of the burden of arrivals to national territory between autonomous communities and, in this way, “to collaborate in solidarity with the Canary Islands at the time of the most arrivals of the year”.

“Spain is a country of solidarity, as it has repeatedly demonstrated with crises arising from the conflicts in Syria, Ukraine or Afghanistan. It is normal that this solidarity is also applied between autonomous communities,” said the delegate.

AN EFFECTIVE MIGRATION POLICY

The Government has been implementing an effective migration policy for five years, which is committed to cooperation with countries of origin and transit and to the fight against the mafias that traffic in people. This policy has made it possible to reduce arrivals year after year and to be the lowest volume route in Europe this year.

This cooperation translates into 40 percent fewer arrivals to the Canary Islands, thanks to interceptions at source and the dismantling of trafficking networks, which also means preventing deaths at sea.

However, a climate favourable to movements by sea is currently converging with political instability in some areas of Africa, such as Senegal, which intensifies arrivals by sea, and which must be a transitional situation.

RECEPTION AND HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE

The first humanitarian response is a state competence, so it is carried out with resources of the Ministry of Inclusion managed through different entities of the third sector, with a comprehensive management and under parameters of equity and effectiveness.

To ensure the coverage of peremptory needs (accommodation, maintenance, basic health care, etc.) Of the people who arrive in our country by coast, the Government is deploying a network of reception devices for basic humanitarian care, throughout the national territory.

By deploying the humanitarian care network, minimal initial assistance is guaranteed to newly arrived people to cause the least possible impact on the local population and public services.

People who are in the reception centres have freedom of movement. The stay of the residents in our resources is very variable, it can go from days to several months. In any case, the average length of stay is one and a half months.

THE WORK OF ACCEM

The territorial delegate of the NGO Accem, Daniel Duque, has indicated that they are an NGO that has been working on emergency work for 30 years, a work they do with the central government but also with regional and local governments.

Duque has asked for tranquility for this arrival of migrants since they are “people”. “These people leave their countries for legitimate reasons, either to improve their lives or to apply for international protection, a recognized right,” he added, while asking to be careful about the terms used to refer to these people whose numbers are still unknown.

Alejandro Duque added that these migrants receive initial basic emergency assistance until they get in touch with relatives or acquaintances who are the ones who “really welcome them.” “The program is temporary, very temporary. They do not come for long and we will work together to ensure that they are in decent conditions,” he explained.

In the case of applying for International Protection, a period of six months begins in which the Government studies the case. “International Protection is not given,” said Alejandro Duque.

He has indicated that they are able to attend to the number of migrants who have arrived in Castile and Leon since it is a lower number than the one lived with the war in Ukraine. He recalled that in 2006 there was a similar crisis.