Migrants and some entities have been warning for months about the difficulties of the foreign population in registering in the Canary Islands and that this has as a consequence the impossibility of access to fundamental rights. In Gran Canaria there may be between 300 and 400 people affected, according to a source close to this problem and who prefers to remain anonymous. The obstacles range from the requirement for documentation that is not among the requirements listed on the city council websites to the questioning of the person and their papers. “As a person registered in this municipality and of the people I know, I have not seen anyone put as many obstacles as foreign people. It is a gymkhana,” says Susana Castañón, inclusion technician at CEAR Canarias.
Registration in the municipal registry is a duty of city councils and a gateway to basic services and rights of universal scope. Without registration, the person does not have access to health care (which in the case of undocumented migrants is assistance in a special situation), to the assignment of a school center, to canary resident bonusto certain aid from municipal social services and, in some cases, to the food bank. Only for some emergency aid is a passport sufficient, but it is not the norm. “The first thing they ask of a person who has migrated anywhere is registration until they regularize their situation,” says Castañón.
For people of migrant origin, registration is especially important, since it is one of the fundamental documents when requesting regularization in Spain. The rule requires documentation proving continued stay in our country for a minimum period of three years – now two with the change in the Immigration Law – and for this purpose the registration certificate is usually delivered. Furthermore, non-EU citizens without a residence permit have to renew their registration every two years to avoid losing this status, since this would make it difficult for them to apply for their papers for the first time.
Generally, municipalities request the identification document of the person to be registered, a contract with the cadastral reference and a direct debit receipt for registration in the municipal register for a rental home. However, there are Canarian councils that, even when the applicant is the owner of the rental contract, request written authorization from the owner of the home, his or her original identification document and its copy or, as Castañón details, in some cases it has been requested the original deeds of the house or the original document of the sale. Alexa Mazabel, member of Regularización Ya Canarias, emphasizes that the demand for documentation from homeowners generates mistrust and increases the difficulties of migrants in finding accommodation. “This makes people angry because the foreigner is always suspicious and we are treated under suspicion,” he emphasizes.
“I have seen a case where they requested the migrant’s birth certificate,” says the CEAR technician. Also on other occasions, some requirement has been demanded outside the regulatory framework: “When the person goes to the town hall they raise some points that are not included in the law, such as for example that if you have not been living in this municipality for six months you cannot register.” , reveals Justo Miranda, technician of the Canarias Convive program.
Luisa (not her real name) says that from July to October of last year she tried three times to register with her daughter and her minor granddaughters, with the rental contract in her name. This woman of Colombian origin points out that she had to request documentation from her country of origin, which would reflect that the father of her granddaughters authorized them to have left the country and reside in Spain. Apart from this authorization and her identification document, rental contract, receipt and documentation from her relatives, she points out that she had to present a written authorization signed by the owner of the home who authorized her to register at his home, the original DNI of the owner and a copy. Another migrant woman from Senegal and with proper documentation also reports that in order to register her adult son with her, they required authorization from her father residing in Senegal.
Distrust towards those who want to register is another of the barriers that migrants and groups denounce. “Although it depends on the official, it is as if one were committing fraud with the documents,” Luisa laments. Along these lines, Castañón points out that he has known cases in which it is questioned whether the documentation provided is true or not. “You go to register a foreign family and they question if they are your children. They say they want the children’s documents, birth certificates, Spanish family book, something they don’t have either. They don’t ask that of a Spanish family; “They see the same last name and that’s it,” he says.
The entities consulted clarify that some municipalities make this service more difficult than others and that some national and community people are also required to provide extra documentation. However, they also agree that the impossibility of registering migrants in an irregular administrative situation makes their integration difficult and aggravates their already vulnerable living conditions.
Given the desperation of migrants, a registry business has emerged in the Canary Islands, as is already happening in other parts of the country, in which the tenant pays the landlord to register. Sol (fictitious name) is a migrant woman from Peru who after several months was able to register with her husband and her young son in the capital of Gran Canaria. He points out that he had to pay the landlady 300 euros for her to agree to do the procedure. “The owner never registered me without giving anything in return. And when they feel like it they throw you out, which is what is happening to me now.” Mazabel also points out that there are people who charge a monthly or semi-annual fee for having registered and that to renew you have to pay again.
The member of Regularización Ya Canarias emphasizes that the barriers in registration for people who are already invisible at a social level increase their chances of suffering harassment, violence and mental health and stress problems. Luisa remembers that the worry during the months that she and her family spent without being able to register led her to have problems falling asleep.
To try to alleviate this problem, CEAR seeks to mediate with the municipalities by explaining to them that the law protects the lack of documentation of a refugee person and the context is explained to them so that they facilitate access to the registry. This occurs, for example, with asylum seekers, who have the right to register with the red card or with the receipt for submitting an application for international protection.
For its part, the Canarias Convive program is also working on the creation of a homogeneous registration protocol for all Canarian municipalities that will include a series of recommendations to speed up this process. “This would be for the benefit of the municipalities and the migrants themselves who are part of the Canary Islands society, so that they can be full citizens on equal terms with their neighbors,” highlights Miranda.
The Common Representative, Lola Padrón, has also spoken along the same lines, who recognizes the existence of this problem. For this reason, a few months ago he held a meeting with representatives of CEAR Canarias and the Red Cross to address the various problems that the migrant population in the Islands has to face, which focused, among other points, on the issue of registration in the Islands.
Source: www.eldiario.es
