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The law will allow the distribution of nearly 6,000 unaccompanied immigrant minors in Spain’s 17 regions.
News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
A health worker carries a girl who comes ashore with other migrants after the rescue of the vessel Salvamar Mizar from a boat of 56 sub-Saharan migrants. [Europa Press via Getty Images]
MADRID – The coalition government of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (PSOE/S&D) and the left-wing platform Sumar approved on Tuesday a reform of the Law on Foreigners (Ley de Extranjería) that will allow the distribution of nearly 6,000 unaccompanied immigrant minors in Spain’s 17 regions after reaching an agreement with the Catalan separatist JxCat party.
“Today we are reaping the fruits of a year of hard work. We are talking about children and adolescents. We ask the PP for responsibility and the same solidarity as with the children in Ukraine. The only thing that differentiates them is the colour of their skin. You only have to look them in the eye”, said the Minister of Territorial Policy and head of the parliamentary commission on immigration, Ángel Víctor Torres (PSOE).
The support of JxCat, led by former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, in self-exile in Waterloo near Brussels, was decisive for the reform of the law to go ahead. In July, Puigdemont’s party had rejected the measure, RTVE reported.
The Spanish executive aims to alleviate the migratory pressure affecting the Canary Islands, which suffers from constant waves of migrants making the dangerous crossing by sea in fragile boats from West African countries.
It also aims to alleviate the migratory pressure on Ceuta and Melilla, the two Spanish enclaves in northern Africa.
The distribution of immigrant minors among Spain’s 17 autonomous communities will be based on population (number of inhabitants in each region), level of migratory pressure and local unemployment figures, among other criteria.
Catalonia will take in only between 20 and 30 minors, out of a total of almost 6,000.
The measure will go ahead thanks to the support of the seven JxCat MPs in parliament, also essential for Sánchez to remain in power.
The Spanish People’s Party (Partido Popular/PPE), the largest opposition force to the government, and the far-right Vox party, the third largest formation in Madrid, reject the move.
(Fernando Heller | Euractiv.es)
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