In a statement, the City Council charges against the Department of Social Rights and maintains the argument that the two centers do not comply with the regulations
The escalation of tension continues in the municipality of Piera (Anoia), where the parish priest and the mayor are maintaining an open conflict over the reception of abandoned migrant minors. The priest faces two fines totaling 3,000 euros, in addition to threats to close the parish. After the Generalitat positioned itself in favor of the Church, the mayor responded with a statement raising his tone. He accuses the ‘Government’ and the Suara cooperative, which manages the center for minors, of not responding to his requirements, and points to the General Directorate for Child and Adolescent Care (DGAIA) so that “take responsibility” and look for another “suitable” place for these minors. According to his vision, this would happen in another town in the region, since there is no alternative site that complies with the regulations for them in the town. The cooperative responds with another statement denying the data provided by the consistory.
“We ask the Generalitat de Catalunya to take responsibility for this situation and offer young people a reception space adapted to your needsand we once again extend the desire for dialogue and the search for solutions”. This is how the statement from the Piera town hall ends, which, in the face of the commotion generated by the news reported by the newspaper, has launched criticisms and reproaches of the Generaliat and the cooperative that manages the center for minors in the town.It is noteworthy that there is hardly any criticism of the priest, who is already they have imposed two fines and threatened with closure of the parish premises where he lives and carries out all ecclesial activities, including masses and Eucharists.
Denied by the cooperative
In the document, the consistory forgets the violation and the alleged insecurity crisis that motivated the opening of files, according to what the mayor himself told this newspaper. He explains that the consistory this 2022 “was forced” to open the first file to close the center for minors in the town (active since 2018) due to “the lack of response from Suara and the Generalitat” to the regularization process opened in 2019. The cooperative responds to the consistory: “Yes, we responded. We present an instance on how to proceed.” They assume that the mayor is lying, since he himself told them in January 2022 not only that the city council would pay for the worksbut also could start after three weeks. “The following response from the City Council, despite the calls and requests for meetings, was the first closure decree.”
The consistory explains that the objective of closing the center was for minors to be transferred “to another center that had all the guarantees for their well-being”. They reproach again that the alternative found, the parish space where the minors continue to live today, was not notified to the municipality nor does it comply with security measures necessary to house a center for minors. The cooperative denies, in part, these accusations: “we made the pertinent communication of the temporary change according to the official model,” they say.
Works paralyzed by the “artistic environment”
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The text also responds to the accusations made yesterday by the Generalitat. Drets Socials made public a report from the Fire Department that gave the green light to condition the closed center. The ‘Govern’ maintained that the consistory execution has been delayed for five months of the new works that would allow minors to return to what was their home. “This proposal has not been authorized by the municipal technical services because it is an artistic-historical environment, asking that the deposit be placed underground,” justifies the consistory. The cooperative explains that a month ago they submitted a new request for works, which has not yet been answered.
The underlying debate of this whole situation is in the reception of the so-called ‘mena’. Migrant children who do not have relatives or anyone to take care of them, and that some municipalities have refused to accept. Some residents and workers in the center suggest that the new Junts-PSC City Council uses disciplinary procedures and legal tricks to expel migrants from Piera. The consistory again denies such accusations. “Always We have positioned ourselves as a welcoming, inclusive, respectful and supportive peoplebut always prioritizing the safety of people, wherever they come from, and compliance with regulations”.