Spain’s Parliament to Vote on Relocation Bill for Young Migrants

Amidst growing numbers of young migrants arriving in the Canary Islands, Spain’s parliament will vote on Tuesday on a proposed bill that would force other regions to take responsibility for some of the minors.
The children sometimes won’t stop crying. Health workers dealing with migrants arriving on Spain’s Canary Islands try to understand if the tears are from illness, injury or, as is often the case, from pure shock.
One young Senegalese boy who disembarked recently kept fainting every few minutes, troubling doctors who couldn’t determine the cause. Other migrants finally explained: the boy had witnessed both parents die during the arduous boat voyage from West Africa. Their bodies were thrown overboard into the Atlantic Ocean.
Mora Peces is among a growing number of people sounding the alarm as the archipelago struggles to deal with thousands of teenagers and children traveling alone to the European Union territory from Senegal, Mali, and other African nations, fleeing poverty, conflict and instability.
On Tuesday, Spain’s parliament will vote to consider a legislative proposal that would force other regions to take responsibility for some of the minors currently stuck on the Canaries in dire conditions.
The conservative Popular Party, the leading opposition to Spain’s left-wing national government, is torn. On the other hand, the far-right Vox party, which rails against irregular migration and particularly unaccompanied minors, is threatening to withdraw from its coalition governments in other regions if the Popular Party accepts any deal to relocate underage migrants, even voluntarily.
Under Spanish law, the regional authorities where the children arrive are responsible for their guardianship. But the Canary Islands government says it is overwhelmed, with more than 5,500 minors — far above its capacity for 2,000.