Migrants who come to Menorca and Ibiza by plane to abandon their children
The island councils have handed over at least four cases to the National Police, which they have had to oversee in recent days.
BrickAt least four migrant minors arrived by plane in recent weeks in Menorca and Ibiza, most likely abandoned by their parents, according to reports from the island councils to the National Police. According to the sources consulted, this approach could be considered a new entry route for the migration phenomenon in the islands.
The alarm was raised by the Minister of Social Welfare and, at the same time, First Vice President of the Menorca Council, Carme Reynés. As she explained this Monday in a meeting with the Secretary of State for Youth and Children, Rubén Pérez, and later explained to ARA, two cases occurred in Menorca within a few days of each other.
These are two minors, aged 11 and 16, from Morocco and Senegal, who are now under the care of the Children's Home in Mahón after arriving by plane and being abandoned by their companions, but no one wanted to take charge.
In one case, the councillor explains, the 11-year-old boy arrived with his father to be dropped off at the home of a family friend, without the latter's prior consent. The fact is that the boy turned up at the bus station, from where the woman took him to the Children's Home. The Island Council immediately reported the incident to the Public Prosecutor's Office and the National Police, who have opened an investigation.
In the other case, the minor was abandoned by his father and, after being lost for a few days, he went straight to the police station himself. The police reported the incident and transferred the young man to the Children's Home, where he is under the guardianship of the Council.
Councilor Carme Reynés warned that, with these two, the number of minors cared for at the Children's Home now totals 24, as many as there are places available. "So there's no room for anyone else," she emphasized. The last to be accommodated were the two traveling aboard the boat that was rescued by Maritime Rescue near the coast of San Luis at the end of August after a tragic voyage in which four people died.
Reynés recalls that months ago, the Council had also had to take guardianship of two other minors who had been left by their parents at the home of relatives, who refused to take them.
A similar practice has also been detected in Ibiza. According to Minister Carolina Escandell, in recent weeks she has also had to act after two minors arriving by air from Maghreb countries were abandoned. In Mallorca, on the other hand, the president of IMAS, Guillermo Sánchez, said he was unaware of any similar incidents.
Even so, Minister of Menorca Carmen Reynés warned that this practice is not new in Spain, as the Prosecutor's Office's report last year revealed that some autonomous communities were recording the arrival of migrants by air.
Therefore, Reynés regrets that the State's response to the Balearic Islands' request has not been what she expected. "We left the meeting very upset because the situation is getting out of hand and no measures are being taken to rectify it," she said.
The island councils are currently caring for 718 migrant minors.
The case of Menorca is not unique but a common rule throughout the archipelago. In fact, the island councils' care services are currently caring for 718 unaccompanied migrant minors, far exceeding their capacity.
The Minister of Families and Social Welfare of the Government, Sandra Fernández, who led the delegation, complained to the State that, despite this, Madrid is still considering sending 49 unaccompanied minors from the Canary Islands to the islands. Fernández complained that the Ministry "is not taking responsibility for distributing children without guarantees that they can be welcomed with dignity and resources."
The common feeling among all the island representatives who attended the meeting is one of "disappointment" and, at the same time, "concern about the current situation, since we cannot care for these children with the dignity they deserve." For this reason, the minister asks that "at the very least, minors not be sent to us from other autonomous communities." There is neither sufficient space nor personnel on the islands to care for them.
Fernández recalled that the government has reviewed, and that the three royal decrees regulating the forced distribution of minors arriving in the Canary Islands and Ceuta have been accepted for processing. "But they are not addressing this request," she said, "and the feeling after this meeting is, once again, one of disappointment, because the State, which has the authority over immigration matters, is not offering us solutions."
