The IMAS warns that if it continues to accept migrant minors, it will begin providing "assistance" services.
The organization is assisting 466 young people who have arrived on the shores of the Islands, 36 in the first fifteen days of August.
PalmThe Mallorcan Institute of Social Affairs (IMAS) warned this Monday that the service is overwhelmed due to the arrival of unaccompanied migrant minors. The organization's vice president, Magdalena García, specified that they are currently caring for 466 migrant minors out of a total of 600. "IMAS was characterized by an accompaniment system, but at some point it will have to be primarily assistance-based," she explained. "The situation has been serious for many months, but no one listens to us, no one listens to us." In this sense, she held the Spanish government responsible for this situation, for not "recognizing" the migratory route between Algeria and the Balearic Islands.
García specified that 36 unaccompanied migrant minors arrived in Mallorca in August alone, 21 of whom arrived in the last 11 days. "The situation is complicated, increasingly so, and the arrivals continue," she warned. In this regard, the vice president of the entity has stated that the protection system is being "sized" "according to the number of places and minors arriving" to offer them a "dignified solution."
On the other hand, García has again refused to accept another 49 minors from the Canary Islands, despite the Spanish government's willingness to support this distribution with more resources, specifically two million euros, to improve the conditions of these young people. "The Government has provided an appeal and we will work to stop this," explained García, who said she did not know how much financial resources are reaching the Islands and, in any case, considered that they are not sufficient to resolve the problems of "human resources, space, and equipment" that the IMAS has.
Calls for the deployment of Frontex
Furthermore, the person responsible for these minors requested the deployment of Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, to prevent the boats from reaching the Balearic coast. The minors only fall under the jurisdiction of the Islands once they set foot on this territory; otherwise, they fall under the jurisdiction of the State.
