Presence of minors in detention centres financed with European funds.

Question for written answer  E-001164/2021
to the Commission
Rule 138
Sira Rego (The Left)

The Canary Islands Plan, financed by the AMIF, has led to the installation of macro detention centres for migrants in the Canary Islands. In these centres, such as the one in Las Raíces (Tenerife), there have been reports of unaccompanied minors, which is at odds with the European Convention on the Exercise of Children’s Rights[1] and the United Nations Convention[2] on the Rights of the Child, ratified by the EU Member States. Furthermore, this highlights the ineffectiveness of the Communication on the protection of children in migration in the EU (COM(2017)0211)[3] .

The presence of minors, which has been documented by a number of organisations, has led the La Laguna town council — the municipality where Las Raíces is located — to request an investigation[4].

• 1.What measures does the Commission intend to take to prevent unaccompanied minors from being held in these centres?
• 2.What stage has been reached in the allocation of European funds to Spain and the Canary Islands Government as an outermost region[5] to provide assistance to unaccompanied minors, which is necessary to ensure that they are accommodated with dignity?
• 3.Does the Commission intend to investigate whether minors are being held in these EU-funded centres?

• [1] https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2015-1752
• [2] https://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CRC.aspx
• [3] https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/sites/homeaffairs/files/what-we-do/policies/european-agenda-migration/20170412_communication_on_the_protection_of_children_in_migration_en.pdf
• [4] https://www.eldiario.es/canariasahora/migraciones/laguna-pide-investigue-si-hay-menores-raices_1_7247995.html
• [5] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/factsheets/en/sheet/100/las-regiones-ultraperifericas-rup-