In Spain there are more than 12,300 foreign minors traveling alone, according to the official registry of the Ministry of the Interior
“This image stigmatizes the menas and they get seen as an offender,” says Imbroda
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The debate on unaccompanied foreign minors, often referred to for short as menas, has dominated the political debate in recent weeks. The controversial Vox poster against unaccompanied foreign minors that compares the supposed funds destined to this group with the retirement pensions – and that the Prosecutor’s Office is investigating for a hate crime – has monopolized all the attention causing an escalation of reactions in the candidates.
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NIUS has spoken with Blas Jesús Imbroda, president of the Subcommittee on Immigration and International Protection of the General Council of Spanish Lawyers, who considers It is irresponsible to focus the political debate on this issue. In his opinion, minors are stigmatized and a rejection of society is generated.
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Question: What do you think of the VOX ad, an ore 4,700 euros a month, your grandmother 426 euros of pension?
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Answer: I am absolutely against minors being used in political debates and publicity campaigns. Unaccompanied foreign minors need legal protection and support, precisely because they are minors. This is not said by me, it is said by the convention for the protection of the rights of the child, which is mandatory for Spain. I do not believe that politicians, of whatever color they are, have to exploit the figure of minors. This image stigmatizes the menas and they get seen as an offender. Regardless of whether someone commits an offense, just like Spanish minors commit them, a stigma is also created towards them and a rejection by society. I consider this attitude on the part of politicians completely irresponsible.
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Q: A judge has closed the case in which she was investigating Vox for a hate crime in relation to the electoral poster in which she compares the retirement pension that a senior receives with the monthly expense dedicated to an unaccompanied foreign minor. What do you think?
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R: I can’t get in there. It will have been from the perspective of criminal law. What is clear is that the cartel causes these minors to be exploited and that is a very great lack of responsibility, it is dangerous for it to become politicized. These messages encourage leisure. Instead of that poster why don’t you put another one by Iñaki Williams and the story of how he arrived in Spain since his parents met in a refugee camp in Ghana until the Athletic striker entered Lezama from Pamplona. In this case, his father managed to give his family a chance at life. There are many kids who have succeeded and who live and work in Spain even though they were unaccompanied minors.
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Q: What is the current situation of the ore?
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R: The less unaccompanied who enter Spain must be supervised by the administration, we are obliged to do so and it must be so. The problem here is that there may be cities that do not have the capacity to provide care for these minors. The serious thing is the lack of solidarity between the autonomous communities. If a city is overwhelmed to meet the ore, it is necessary for others to meet this demand and provide them with the necessary services. What should not occur is that speeches of support are given and when push comes to shove, do not. This has already happened in Melilla and no city has helped. The reality is unfortunate.
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In Spain there are more than 12,300 foreign minors traveling alone, according to the official record of the Ministry of the Interior, which does not reflect the real data. The main gateway for these foreign minors traveling alone is Andalusia, where 5,183 children are registered; followed by Catalonia, with 1,938, and Melilla, with 1,067 children, according to the latest data from the MENA Registry, as of April 30, 2019. The arrival of menas has doubled compared to 2017, when there were 6,414 children, a number that already meant then an increase of 60% compared to 2016.
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Q: All these kids who come to Spain are received in a supervised center of the administration, but what happens to them when they come of age?
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R: This is a big problem. They have to leave the center where they are and are left alone in the streets and many of them without documentation. To this you have to give a solution and fast. After years of being educated, trained and welcomed in Spain at 18 they are left abandoned. They must be provided with documentation that allows them to continue with their life in Spain, where they have spent most of their childhood. Many have been abandoned by their families in their country of origin and have nowhere to return. Nobody chooses the place where they will be born. Nobody chooses to be born in the midst of wars, crimes against humanity, tyrannical dictatorships that persecute and annul the human being. No one chooses to be born where they lack the slightest chance at life. For them we need the support and solidarity of all.
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P: But there are not only unaccompanied minors, there are political refugees, victims susceptible to exploitation, women victims of trafficking …
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R: For all of them there are international norms and treaties that Spain has ratified and that it must comply with. But, there are many cases in which it is being done to us. They are victims susceptible to international protection, political persecuted, political refugees, gender condition. Trafficking victims is another issue, it is 21st century slavery and all of them must be helped and supported. The legislation provides that support must be given to them, but there is still no solidarity. Spain is the gateway to the European Union, it is a problem that affects us all, but not everyone does something. There are member states that put themselves in profile because things are not going with them.
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Q: In Spain, international protection and asylum is collapsed. How should it be managed correctly?
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First, the asylum and refuge office must be staffed with more staff. It is not possible to pretend to respond to all the requests that include the migratory phenomenon with the same means that the administration has had for years. Now the migratory movements are immense and it is necessary to provide personnel to expedite the procedures. Work is being done on improving systems and technology but much remains to be done. Second, we guarantee legal assistance to all migrants, no one is left out. But, for this, we also request that this defense be made with full guarantees. We ask that a reserved interview be facilitated between the lawyer and the migrant and we want an adequate space for this that guarantees privacy. It has already happened many times, in the Motril Pier, for example, there was no place to be with that person who needs help and that you are the only thing they have at that moment. Society has to be supportive, because I repeat, no one chooses the place where they are born and everyone has the right to be welcomed, protected and given international protection.
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