Prohens responds to Minister Torres's "threats" for refusing to take in minors: "Why would they send me the security forces?"

IbizaPrime Minister Marga Prohens responded this Wednesday to the "threat" from the Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, regarding the Balearic Islands' refusal to accept migrant minors arriving in the Canary Islands: "Why would they send the security forces to me?" she asked. The Balearic president reacted in this way to the minister's warning, in statements to TVE, that she would send the security forces to enforce the law if any region refuses to accept the unaccompanied migrant minors who are entitled to it under the government decree. "I would ask the Spanish government to stop acting tough and making threats and to make itself available, collaborating with the communities, to see what solution we can find," added the Balearic leader.

The president has said that she will not allow "these children to have to sleep in a place that is not decent" in the high summer temperatures, and has challenged the Spanish government to identify the spaces where minors should be housed and take responsibility for "these undignified conditions." Prohens criticized the fact that the royal decree on the distribution was approved "without the regional governments" and said that the Minister of Children, Sira Rego, "is only known" for her capacity to insult her, while "she did not pick up the phone to find out about the situation of the shelters" on the islands.

Prohens has questioned the formula used by the State for the distribution—where the greatest influence is the population—and the Government will challenge it before the Supreme Court and request its precautionary suspension, as will the communities of Madrid and Aragon. "There are no professionals to care for them. Let the Spanish government decide where they should be housed, because there are no shelters," she warned SER. This is how Prohens responded to the question of whether he plans to disobey: "I can't imagine the Spanish government being insistent in the face of this lack of humanity and sensitivity." This Wednesday, Torres replied that the "regrettable" thing is that the Balearic Islands didn't even send the certificate of the minors they had already taken in, as required by the Ministry of Children, according to reports the NOWThe Balearic Islands will have to take in 406 minors, far behind the regions that, according to what the Spanish government established yesterday, must take in more unaccompanied minors. Andalusia (2,827), Catalonia (2,650), Madrid (2,325), and the Valencian Community (1,767) occupy the top positions on the list.

The war with Alfonso Rodríguez

Without leaving the topic of immigration, the leader of the Balearic Islands government considered it "a disdain and an insult" that the Spanish government representative, Alfonso Rodríguez, had refused to meet with the Balearic Islands' institutions to discuss irregular immigration, and denied that she was the one who had refused to hold the meeting. She also stated that she had sent a letter on behalf of the regional councils, Palma City Council, and FELIB (Felib) requesting the meeting with Rodríguez. "I can show his response: that he did not want to meet with us together," Prohens said.

In statements to the media, Prohens expressed her delight that the Spanish government representative "has returned from this endless vacation." And, ironically, she said she did not know where he had been during the last 15 days of August, when 1,500 irregular migrants and more than 64 unaccompanied minors arrived in the Balearic Islands.

The president acknowledged that she understands that Rodríguez must defend the Spanish government "to the very end," although "at this time, it is incompatible to defend the Balearic Islands and the Spanish government." For Prohens, Rodríguez's refusal constitutes "a disdain and an insult to the island institutions," which is why she opted last week to organize the meeting with the councils. She also pointed out that the councils are responsible for hosting unaccompanied minors, so it is "unacceptable" that the delegate does not want to meet with them, even more so when the government has no official information about the arrival of more than 1,500 people in the Balearic Islands. "We do care about the conditions of dignity that should prevail when welcoming anyone, because any human life is worthy of dignity, especially when we are talking about children," she added. The president, in this regard, stated that "these are not Amazon packages" nor a "mere delivery."