The failure of a system that should protect

Musa arrived at the interview appointment nervous. He hadn't slept because he had spent the night writing down exactly what he wanted to explain about his story. He needed to have the puzzle pieces in order. He notified the minors' center that he was turning 18. No one heeded his warning, and when the Police certified his birth certificate, they threw him out on the street. The system rejected him, and he lost any opportunity to access the public resources network. His case is not unique. According to his account, and as third-sector workers have confirmed, a friend of his ended up begging, overcome by tears and fear, at the door of a charitable organization to let him sleep under a roof. They made a place for him that they didn't have.

While Vox spreads a discourse of hate that criminalizes those who arrive by raft, associates them with delinquency, and blames them for consuming resources like public healthcare – as if anyone who buys and consumes wasn't paying taxes –, the PP oscillates between decency and social responsibility and not losing sight of the votes it can snatch from the partner of the outbursts.

Beyond the squabbles of the entire legislature, the bodies responsible for the guardianship of minors and their emancipation ignore the system's flaws. At IMAS, they don't value "particular cases," as if this weren't about people. And the Government implicitly acknowledges the consequences of demand being greater than available resources. I don't doubt the committed, invaluable, difficult, and overloaded work of those who watch over the protection of minors and their transition to adult life, but testimonies like Moussa's, collected by ARA Balears, should promote an investigation among third-sector foundations with questionable practices.

The system must ensure compliance with protocols, even when this management is outsourced. It must ascertain whether minors are receiving the information and resources that the Administration offers and hold those responsible accountable.

Citizen solidarity is admirable, but it should not be a substitute for political obligations. No one has answered Moussa's questions, and if he has a home and a future today, it's not thanks to the institutions. If it were up to them, he would be on the street.