Brussels (EFE).- The European Parliament (EP) demanded this Tuesday that the European Union take into account the condition of the Canary Islands as an outermost region when it comes to supporting them in the reception of migrants and in the measures for the inclusion of this segment of the population, taking into account the rest of the challenges of the insularity that this Spanish region faces.
This request appears in a non-binding or legislative report with the opinion of the European Parliament on the vision that Brussels has proposed for the outermost regions of the European Union, including the Canary Islands, territories with a special characterization in community treaties due to the unique challenges to those who cope
The text, approved this Tuesday by 589 votes in favour, 22 against and 16 abstentions, calls for European migration policy, in addition to being well coordinated, humanitarian, effective and safe, “to take into account the specific realities of the outermost regions, in particular those that face the significant consequences of large and constant migrant arrivals”.
The deputies “draw special attention to the needs of the outermost regions dealing with migration, including people in vulnerable situations, such as unaccompanied minors, as in the Canary Islands, who have specific needs to support their inclusion. social”.
These territories, points out the European Parliament, have high rates of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion (37.8% in the Canary Islands or 29.2% in Madeira in 2021) or young people who neither study nor work nor are they formed; while at the European level the average was 13.7% in 2020, in the Canary Islands it reached 23.2%.
For this reason, beyond migration management, these regions “need adapted measures and adequate resources to overcome the challenges they face and guarantee their development”, defend the deputies, with proposals such as specific rules on State aid designed for these regions -with less strict limits- and “adequate financial resources”.
For the European Parliament, the Brussels strategy for these territories does not sufficiently take into account the specific needs of each one of them, with very different realities despite their general problem of “remote location, small size and adverse weather conditions, to which are added the negative social and economic consequences of these characteristics”. EFE