A state of social emergency was declared on the Spanish island of Lanzarote on Wednesday due to an influx of young migrants and an overcrowded shelter system, Spanish media reported.
Oswaldo Betancort, president of the local government of Lanzarote, part of the Canary Islands archipelago, signed the decree, citing predictions that the coming weeks and months could see a “record increase in the number of migrant arrivals from the African coast.”
The emergency declaration is intended to “facilitate and speed up decision-making” to ensure that “migrant children are provided with the most dignified conditions possible” and to “take emergency decisions in an emergency situation”.
According to local authorities, around 40 unaccompanied minors have recently landed on Lanzarote’s shores.
The government has placed 742 of these young migrants in specialised shelters throughout 2023.
However, last week lawyers and the Samu Foundation, an NGO, condemned the “appalling state” of one of the centres for young migrants on the Atlantic island.
According to a legal document about the centre filed with the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Ombudsman, the centre is dirty, overcrowded, infested with insects and in unsafe conditions. Young migrants are not even given bedding.
Discussing the declaration of emergency, Marci Acuna, Lanzarote’s Councillor for Social Welfare and Inclusion, recognised that “all the resources used so far are overcrowded and we see no alternative accommodation for these minors.”
The Canary Islands expect to receive around 70,000 migrants in the coming months, around 10 per cent of whom are likely to be unaccompanied minors.
There are currently around 5,600 minors living on all the islands, but the government estimates that number could more than double to between 12,000 and 16,000 by the end of the year.
