EU rebellion brews as overwhelmed Canary Islands hit out at migration deal 'falling short'

Authorities and politicians in the Canary Islands remain wary of some of the terms of the Pact on Migration and Asylum reached by the European Council and Parliament earlier this week.

The agreement, which was first proposed by the Commission in September 2020, aims at “establishing a predictable and reliable system in crisis situations in which all member states must provide mandatory solidarity contributions to support the member state that it be declared in crisis”.

However, this mandatory solidarity has been described as “a la carte”, as members of the EU can still oppose the relocation of migrants to their territories, but need to offer a cash contribution for each person they reject to welcome.

This system offers some relief to those areas such as Italy’s Lampedusa and Spain’s Canary Islands that given their location in the Mediterranean Sea often receive hundreds of migrants a day.

However, officials in the Canary Islands fear this pact doesn’t go as far as needed to help the territory tackle the migrant crisis.

The spokesman for the Canary Islands government and deputy minister, Alfonso Cabello, warned that “‘a la carte solidarity’ or ‘compulsory solidarity’ are not terms that seem to be the most appropriate for a situation with immigration such as the one we are experiencing”.

Mr Cabello said certain aspects of the pact approved on Wednesday “fall short”. He explained: “The fact that there is a document means that there is a way forward for the 27 member countries to work together, but the reality is that we see it with some concern.”

When it comes to what the Canary Islands would prefer to see coming from Brussels in terms of help with migrant arrivals, he added: “We would rather talk about co-responsibility and being able to provide a solution of continuity to a situation which is not a one-off.”

The Canary Islands have become the gateway for many migrants trying to seek asylum in Europe.

The archipelago has received more than 37,500 migrants so far throughout 2023, a figure exceeding by 20 percent the record arrivals noted in 2006 – 31,678. And more migrants may still arrive before the year ends, given the good state of the sea and the warm weather in the Mediterranean.

On December 20, the day the EU migrant act was announced, the islands’ maritime rescue had to coordinate the support to seven boats trying to reach holiday hotspots Lanzarote and Gran Canaria. More than 350 people reached the archipelago in 24 hours, and two of the many aboard these precarious boats died.

Stressing why more solidarity is needed to areas like the Canary Islands, Mr Cabello noted the thousands of migrants reaching the coasts of the archipelago don’t “want to come to the Canary Islands, they wanted to come to Europe”.

He added: “They are fleeing their countries where there is repression, where there is war, where there is persecution on many occasions, and what they are looking for is a life project.”

Announcing the deal, the EU said in a statement the “historic” pact “is a relief for local communities – on the Greek islands, in Cyprus, Lampedusa, and the Canary Islands, among others – while also addressing the specific needs of all Member States”.