375 migrant minors have already been relocated from the Canary Islands, with hundreds more approved
The Spanish Government has so far relocated 375 migrant minors who arrived in the Canary Islands by small boats to centres in other regions of Spain, and has authorised the transfer of another 468. Of these, 195 must travel within the next few days to their new care facilities in the mainland.
The Minister for Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, confirmed the figures after informing the Supreme Court that the Government has now fulfilled its obligation to take responsibility for 907 asylum-seeking children, as ordered under precautionary measures requested by the Canary Islands.
Reducing pressure on the Canaries’ overstretched system
Torres reviewed the progress made under the recently reformed Immigration Law, which aims to ease pressure on the islands’ overcrowded child-protection network. At its peak, the Canary Islands were caring for nearly 6,000 unaccompanied migrant children, mostly from Africa.
To meet new national distribution ratios based on population, GDP, and other factors, 2,826 minors must eventually be transferred from the archipelago to other areas of the country.
Three relocation routes
The relocation process is underway through three mechanisms:
- Conventional route: Four months to rehouse minors who arrived before September.
- Express route: Fifteen days to transfer those who arrived after the migration emergency was declared on 29th August.
- Supreme Court-mandated route: For asylum-seeking minors included in the 907-child order.
Of these 907 cases, 607 children have entered Spain’s national asylum-protection network. Among them, 334 have already been moved to mainland centres, while 273 remain in temporary facilities in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria awaiting transfer.
Another 300 candidates were excluded from the programme because they were found to have family ties in the islands, were actually adults, or turned 18 during the process.
Transfers lagging behind
Since September, 236 relocation orders have been issued for newly arrived minors, which by law must be carried out within five days. But only 41 transfers have taken place. When asked about the remaining 195, Torres said it is for the Canary Islands Government to explain, as it is responsible for physically moving each child to their new centre.
He also highlighted that the regional government has so far sent only 437 case files for minors who arrived before summer, far fewer than needed to meet the four-month national deadline for relocating the required 2,826 children.
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