Chivite breaks the blockade on transfers and will host the first five migrant girls from Ceuta in Navarra: "This Government does help with facts"

Navarra has become the first autonomous community to host migrant minors arriving in Ceuta after the massive entry on July 30 and 31. The president of the regional government, María Chivite, announced this Thursday the transfer of five girls and has called for a response based on "facts and solutions" to the emergency that the autonomous city continues to face.

The first two girls, both of Moroccan origin, will arrive in Navarra this Thursday afternoon, while the transfer of the other three is scheduled for Friday, as reported by 'El País'. The movement has been coordinated between the Navarrese Government, the Ceuta minors' department, and the Ministry of Youth and Childhood.

The agreement finally opens the way to the Peninsula 42 days after the migratory crisis and allows the beginning of relief for protection services subjected to extraordinary pressure. "Five minor girls from Ceuta are about to arrive in Navarra, because this Government helps Ceuta," Chivite announced during the plenary session of the regional Parliament.

The socialist leader defended that her Executive will collaborate within its competencies and resources, regardless of the political color of the administration requesting help. "We will help Ceuta, not with banners, but with facts," she remarked, after recalling the shipment of vaccines and Navarra's willingness to assume new responsibilities if necessary.

The Government asks the Popular Party to follow Navarra's example

The transfer comes when Ceuta still has thousands of minors who arrived during the crisis under its guardianship. The National Police has already identified 2,004 children, of whom around 700 are girls awaiting a place in residential centers on the Peninsula. The Ministry of Youth and Childhood and organizations working on the ground estimate that nearly another thousand are still pending identification.

A part of these minors remains in settlements, mountains, and around the reception centers, many of them overwhelmed. Girls and children under 13 constitute the priority group due to their special exposure to sexual violence, exploitation, and trafficking networks.

The Minister of Youth and Childhood, Sira Rego, has celebrated Navarra's decision as "a great advance" and has asked the communities governed by the Popular Party to act in the same direction. "If Navarra can host girls and it is proven to be viable, it must also be possible for the autonomous communities of the PP," she stated.

Rego has accused the popular regional governments of "standing aside" after publicly demanding solidarity with Ceuta. The minister believes that the PP has focused on spreading messages that "stir up hatred and break the framework of coexistence," in addition to criminalizing minors and supporting proposals for collective deportations incompatible with legislation.

Childhood has prepared with a social entity a device to prioritize the transfer of 500 girls from Ceuta, although it is still awaiting authorization from the autonomous city, which maintains its guardianship. The freeing up of places would allow for accelerating the identification of minors who remain outside the system and offering them accommodation, food, healthcare, and protection.

Catalonia and Euskadi could follow in Navarra's footsteps. The president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, has already expressed his willingness to collaborate within available capacities, while the lehendakari, Imanol Pradales, has recalled that the Basque system currently attends to nearly a thousand minors and has asked that transfers be carried out with guarantees.

Chivite confronts anti-immigration discourse

Chivite took advantage of her intervention to warn of the rise of a radical discourse against immigration that is beginning to be adopted by conservative parties for fear of losing votes to the far-right. In her opinion, this path ignores international obligations, human rights, and the protection due to any minor who is alone.

"Anything that is not providing them coverage and contributing to channeling their situation so that they have a future has no place in our way of understanding politics," she said. The president has defended that institutional cooperation and compliance with the law are the necessary tools to stop a "dangerous wave" that uses fear to justify dehumanization and the curtailment of rights.

The spokesperson for Unión del Pueblo Navarro (UPN), Javier Esparza, has accused Chivite of prioritizing the interests of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, over those of Navarra and has demanded a more critical response to crisis management. The president has acknowledged that the central Executive "should have been more agile and had a more immediate response" during the first hours, although she has rejected the "re-emigration" proposals promoted by ultra sectors.

Chivite has also asked UPN to stop "holding the door open for the far-right" and has warned that competing with their proposals could end up reducing the electoral space of the Navarrese party. "The far-right sets traps for you every day and you fall into them every day," she replied.

EH Bildu, Geroa Bai, and Contigo-Zurekin have supported a reception policy based on human rights and have called for strengthening educational and integration projects. Navarra will incorporate the five girls into its protection system, with social care, schooling, and accompaniment during their inclusion process.