Elma Saiz apela a la lealtad institucional y a la coordinación con las comunidades autónomas en la segunda Conferencia Sectorial de la legislatura

The Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, has announced at the eleventh Sectoral Conference on Immigration held today that information will be sent monthly to the autonomous communities both on the stable devices of the Humanitarian Assistance Program of the Ministry of Inclusion and on the emergency devices that have been opened to deal with the rebound of arrivals and transfers from the Canary Islands. With this premise, the minister has asked for the necessary caution to interpret data that “are a fixed photo of a broader system that is in permanent change”.

In line with the working group set up after the first Sectoral Conference, the objective of this information transfer is for administrations to exchange information to improve planning and optimize the resources available at the different levels of administration. In addition, it has reported on the situation of the State reception network and the planned amendments to the Aliens Regulation.

Minister Elma Saiz has called for institutional loyalty and bi-directionality in the transfer of information, since “the exchange of reliable information to improve the protection of people, and achieve greater acceptance and integration in the territories that host them”.

The minister has reiterated the importance of the autonomous communities in this matter. “It is important to have your participation both in the elaboration of the rules and in the management of the arrivals of people and their integration into our society.” On this path of exchange and cooperation, Elma Saiz has convened a new Sectoral Commission (forum prior to the Sectoral Conference) on Immigration on April 9 and has invited them to send their observations and contributions to the proposals put on the table today.

Representatives of all the autonomous communities have participated, in addition to the Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Angel Víctor Torres and the secretaries of State of Security, Rafael Pérez, and of Migration, Pilar Cancela.

In addition to thanking the collaboration of the Autonomous Communities, the Inclusion holder has valued the work of municipalities, other ministries and social entities when dealing with phenomena such as the arrival in our country of migrants and applicants for international and temporary protection.

Regulation on Foreigners

The planned reform of the Aliens Regulation has as its main objective to reduce the multiple types of permits currently in force and advance in the protection of the rights of migrants. To achieve this, as demonstrated at the sectoral conference, several modifications are necessary. Firstly, the authorisations for stay, residence, and residence and work, as well as the administrative procedures and requirements for their processing, will be simplified.

In this line, the telematic processing of immigration procedures will be enhanced and the status of relatives of Spanish citizens will be regulated, following the recommendations of the European Commission. In addition, the transposition of the Blue Card Directive for highly qualified workers will be completed and the regulation of study stays will be adapted to the Organic Law of the University System.

On the other hand, the authorization of victims of sexual violence will be developed by regulation and the protection of the rights of migrants against labour exploitation will be accentuated.

“In addition, Saiz said, we will continue working to facilitate the incorporation into the labor market of people who are already in Spain, promoting the compatibility of training and work,” and he recalled that the rooting by training has already benefited about 32,000 people. In addition, it is committed to reforming the Large Companies and Strategic Groups Unit as a model of agile and flexible immigration management. 
“Likewise, we will continue working to promote the channels for safe, orderly and regular migration, as is the GECCO program”, reserved for exclusive labor migration from its origin. Currently, 85% of the participants in this program come from Morocco, but the cast of countries of origin is expanding. “We have to take into account that 90% of users are women, so this is a program with a high gender impact,” said Saiz.

State Reception Network

At the sectoral conference, the Head of Migration informed the representatives of the autonomous communities of the current situation of the Reception System for International Protection and Humanitarian Assistance. “The year 2023 was by far the year in which more than 163,000 applications for International Protection were filed in Spain.” In this context, the minister wanted to highlight the strength of the state reception network. “More than 65,000 were served in the International Protection Reception System in 2023; and today, 36,000 people remain in the System.”

In addition, “as we all know, since the beginning of the summer of 2023, there has been a constant growth in the number of arrivals to our coasts, especially to the Canary Islands”.
As Saiz explained, “the international context, with the war in Ukraine and the instability in central Africa, where there have been seven coups d’état in the last three years, has a great impact on the situation of our reception system. The situation remains complicated.”

Faced with this situation, the emergency situation has been extended until 31 July, the budget has been increased, the reception capacity has been increased by 50% and the centres of their own that the ministry has had to set up to care for these people will continue to be open.

“I take this opportunity to show the firm commitment of the department I lead to give the most humane attention possible and to thank all the administrations involved for the close cooperation, especially of the social services. Thanks to this, we make a reality of the principle of interterritorial and interadministrative solidarity, which must give priority to our actions.”