Vox and PP's fake news about immigrants arriving by boat
Experts and organizations question the narrative of these parties, which links the group to criminality and accuses the left of creating a "pull effect."
PalmThe polarization over the wave of migration has impacted the Balearic Islands, which in recent years have seen a significant increase in the number of immigrants arriving by boat, some of them minors. The People's Party (PP) and its partner, Vox, have made the issue a front against the Spanish government. From the more or less direct link between irregular immigration and crime, to accusations against the Spanish government and NGOs of generating a "pull effect," various specialists consulted by ARABalears point out fake news of these parties on the migration issue.
Criminalization
Vox has persistently criminalized irregular immigrants, especially unaccompanied foreign minors. Last Wednesday, the spokesperson for the parliamentary group, Manuela Cañadas, accused them of "mass rapes." Despite assuring that there is "absolutely objective data" on these alleged crimes, she provided none when questioned by journalists.
According to the Ministry of the Interior's analyses based on data from law enforcement agencies, no correlation has been found between the evolution of crime in Spain and that of irregular immigration that would allow one phenomenon to be associated with the other. Cañadas also appealed to the complaints of "neighbors" and "mothers." However, ARABalears has consulted various professionals who work on the front lines with those arriving by boat, and none confirm this perception. From the judge of the Provincial Court of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and former judge of the Foreigners' Detention Center (CIE), Arcadio Díaz, to representatives of the Network for Social Inclusion (EAPN) and the Federation of Entities for the Care of Children and Adolescents in the Balearic Islands (FEIAB), Cañadas' partner, they correspond to reality. "Unfortunately, these narratives go to the gut, to the emotions, and it is difficult to combat them," laments the director of EAPN, Andreu Grimalt.
The Minister of Social Welfare and president of the Mallorcan Institute of Social Affairs (IMAS), Guillermo Sánchez, has also denied that there is a connection between the unaccompanied foreign minors his institution houses and criminal acts. "I don't see that assimilation," he said in a media appearance: "There may be conflict, but we have as many cases of crime among Spaniards as among non-Spaniards." However, the PP has maintained an ambivalent stance toward this association and has hardened its anti-immigration stance in recent months. Its president, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, proposed a few weeks ago the expulsion of immigrants with papers who commit crimes. "The PP is buying into Vox's position on immigration," denounces sociologist David Abril.
In this regard, Senegalese Mahecor Mbenge, who arrived in the Canary Islands by boat more than two decades ago and currently lives in Mallorca, warns that this discourse affects immigrants psychologically. "It generates stress and anxiety, especially in already vulnerable people, and can lead to concentration difficulties, sleep disorders, and profound emotional exhaustion," he believes. "This negative rhetoric makes it easier for people to internalize prejudices in the form of self-stigma and low self-esteem, which undermines their confidence and hinders their social integration," he continues. When it comes to children and adolescents, he believes they can grow up "feeling identified as 'problems,' and this emotional burden can affect their development."
Neither invasion, nor the call effect
Vox often uses the term "invasion" when referring to irregular immigration. However, the Spanish government delegation denies this. "The majority of those arriving are Algerian citizens on their way to other European countries," they explain. Only people with a vulnerable profile—families with minor children, the disabled, the sick, etc.—are included in the Ministry of Inclusion's Humanitarian Care Program, which offers them emergency social and health care, shelter, basic financial assistance, and transportation. Only minors traveling alone are accommodated by IMAS: currently, there are 670. Although the government has denounced the care service as saturated, in absolute terms this represents 0.05% of the population of the islands (1,250,000 inhabitants).
On the other hand, both the far right and the PP have accused the Spanish government of generating a "pull effect" or "incentivizing" arrivals by caring for immigrants. According to the study led by Abril Migration dynamics in the European Mediterranean islands, what convinces thousands of people to move to the Islands is the economic model. "More and more people are coming to cater to tourists," explains the sociologist. In this regard, Mbenge, author of the book The West as a goal: from Senegal to Mallorca, states that people decide to emigrate due to issues such as "lack of job opportunities and poverty," "war, violence, or persecution," as well as "the absence of legal avenues, such as the inability to obtain visas or permits" to enter the country legally.
An illegal solution
Vox has called for their "mass deportation." But both the Spanish legal system—the Immigration Law—and the European legal system—the State is a signatory to Protocol Number Four of the European Convention on Human Rights, which expressly prohibits the mass expulsion of foreigners.
On the other hand, the Balearic Government, claiming it does not have sufficient resources to handle the number of people arriving on the islands, has asked the Spanish state to request the deployment of Frontex. But Margalida Capellà, an expert in public international law and professor at the Mediterranean Migration Observatory, warns that this would not allow for a "more humanitarian response"—as advocated by the PP—to migrants. "The goal is to detain them while they are at sea and prevent them from arriving, and that means they have to go back somewhere," she explains. "What happens when they are returned? In countries like Mauritania, they have even been sent into the desert." In this regard, she warns that "if Frontex is requested, what we are saying is to strengthen security that has been criticized from a human rights perspective."
Comparable in the Canary Islands?
The government has stated that, if no action is taken, the situation regarding boat arrivals to the islands will soon reach that of the Canary Islands. According to data from the Spanish government delegation, 261 boats and 4,890 people have arrived in the islands this year. In the Canary Islands, more than 12,000 people have arrived. "Although a slowdown in the pressure of arrivals to the Canary Islands has been noted in recent months, the figures are much higher than those in the Balearic Islands," explain sources from the institution.