The Federation of Hospitality and Tourism Entrepreneurs of Las Palmas (FEHT) has urged the central Government to assume its responsibilities in the immigration situation, and start transferring immigrants that have arrived to the islands by boat, to the mainland, before the image of the islands for tourists is damaged for good.
In a statement, FEHT requests that the Government “act urgently to respond to this migratory and humanitarian crisis, by attending to the urgent needs, both of the immigrants and of society, and the future of the Canarian economy.”
FEHT points out that they have been waiting for months for the humanitarian action of the Spanish Government, and warns of the "instability and frustration" that this situation is generating due to the incessant arrival of boats to the coasts of the islands every week.
This organization is also disappointed that "there is no project, neither for these people, nor for the Canarian population, aimed at solving the migratory crisis that is affecting the islands, not only in resources, but in future tourism.”
It also states that since last December, by order of the Ministry of the Interior, these people have been prevented from travelling to the mainland and the rest of Europe on their own accord, despite having their own valid passports and plane tickets, which is forcing them to stay in the Canary Islands against their will, and without offering them any opportunity.
FEHT wants to know whether immigrants will be transferred to empty reception centres on the mainland, and whether it will allow those with documentation to move to the European continent. In addition, they also want to know when the State is going to proceed with transferrals and repatriations.
FEHT warns that it is "difficult to accommodate the neglect and total abandonment by the Spanish Government in the face of the social and economic crisis derived from the coronavirus that is affecting the archipelago”, so it insists on demanding "a humanitarian response, agile, efficient and satisfactory for the interests of the Canary Islands”.
On the other hand, the regional president, Ángel Víctor Torres, thanked the autonomous communities yesterday for "the sensitivity" they have shown to the call for collaboration of the Government of the Canary Islands with the reception of underage immigrants, who in at this moment is providing for more than 1,500 minors.
In addition, Torres expressed his concern at the appearance of xenophobic and violent outbreaks in the archipelago and pointed out that it is inadmissible that "some regions have protested about the presence of migrants in their territories who arrived in Spain through the southern border of Europe that represents the Canary Islands.”
