The content of a future organic law that, applying article 150.2 of the Constitution, delegates the management of powers and resources so that Catalonia can carry out comprehensive immigration management has yet to be defined, and will not be soon.
The agreement between the Government and Junts reached on Wednesday is now a framework on which to work, but the independence party points to three basic issues. The first, the competition to determine the flows of migrants that Catalonia can welcome. Likewise, the exclusive management of “linguistic welcome”. And, in addition, it is demanded that the Mossos participate in decisions on the expulsion of migrants with multiple repeat crimes.
Regarding the management of flows, Junts points out that the future law must establish the reception capacity of Catalonia based on specific variables. The clearest case would be that of the population. If Catalonia represents 16.4% of the total population, it should not host a higher percentage of people. Always according to JxCat, Catalonia currently welcomes more than 23% of the people whose distribution, they claim, has been managed by the Ministry of Inclusion. Another criterion that could be included to establish the Catalan quota in relation to this population could be the gross domestic product (GDP) in relation to the rest of the State.
The current reception system of international protection and humanitarian care – managed by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration – is comprehensive. That is, it does not make a distribution by quotas between the different communities when it is necessary to face a migration crisis. Afghan citizens arriving after the Taliban took over Kabul, Ukrainians fleeing after the Russian invasion or Senegalese arriving in canoes were integrated into this flexible system without it collapsing.
The distribution in an extraordinary situation is carried out in strict order of available resources. Given the surge in arrivals to the Canary Islands, hotels, camps or even military barracks were set up in different regions, depending on availability.
At the highest peak of the cayucos crisis –at the end of October 2023–, there were 42,551 migrants in the reception network, according to data to which La Vanguardia has had access.
However, if we look at the ratio, places per 100,000 inhabitants, the ranking by community is reversed. The Canary Islands have 292 migrants in the reception network per 100,000 citizens, followed by Aragón (260), Andalusia (116) and Castilla y León (111). Catalonia appears in eighth place with 77 places per 100,000 inhabitants. The figures are very volatile because migrants are continually entering and leaving the reception system, but according to ministerial sources, the previous data does reflect the general distribution situation.
The guardianship of unaccompanied foreign minors, on the other hand, depends on the autonomies. In this case there are no mandatory distributions between communities to face a migration crisis. In exceptional situations, the solidarity of the rest of the regions is resorted to. Something that the Government intends to change by law, as agreed with the Canarian Coalition. Last fall, the communities agreed to host 396 migrant minors from the Canary Islands and Ceuta. Catalonia committed to protecting 33 of them.
Junts also placed special emphasis yesterday on the fact that the future organic law will be made with the use of article 150.2 of the Constitution, an article that facilitates the transfer of exclusive powers of the State and that the last time it was used was to transfer traffic management. to the Mossos d'Esquadra. With this formula, Junts wants to obtain integration policies for people who arrive in Catalonia, with an eye on the Catalan language. Currently, the Reception Law already establishes a series of requirements for knowledge of the Catalan language and culture, and the objective is to achieve greater control over this issue. In an interview on Catalunya Ràdio, the general secretary of Junts, Jordi Turull, indicated the importance of people arriving “knowing that they are in a nation where Catalan is spoken.”
Regarding the request for powers to address the debate on migrants who have committed crimes again, the Government has made it clear that there will be no changes in the management of the borders, which is carried out by the Police. From Junts, what is demanded is a role for the Mossos in the decisions about the expulsion. In this sense, Turull considered that "whether it is expelled or not it must be possible to decide from Catalonia", without further specifications.
In this debate that only points out and whose content is yet to be defined, the Government rules out that the Foreigner Internment Centers (CIE) can be closed, since they depend on the Interior.
