The Ministry of Inclusion will convene the fourth Sectoral Conference on Migration in early 2025

The Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, together with the Minister for Home Affairs, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, at the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council

The Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, took part in the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council in Brussels. This is the second time she has accompanied the Minister for Home Affairs, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, to the meeting of the body that develops cooperation and common policies on cross-border security and justice issues, which is usually attended by the ministers responsible for justice and home affairs.

In this context, Minister Saiz announced that the Sectoral Conference on Migration, in which autonomous communities and local authorities will participate, will be convened in the first months of 2025. "It is the forum for participation and dialogue that we consider essential in the development of our migration policy, as it is closely linked to human rights, integration and inclusion of the people who arrive. The administrations that are closest to the citizens are essential in this process."

Elma Saiz recalled that it is very rare for those responsible for the humanitarian aspect of migration to attend the forum where common policies on cross-border security and justice issues are developed. "The fact that I am here is already a declaration of our country's intentions, which defends above all else respect and the defence of human rights," Saiz explained in a meeting with the media. "The humanitarian perspective must be incorporated into the migration debate."

"The reform of the Foreigners Regulation that we have just brought forward is fully aligned with this humanitarian perspective and already fits in with the further development of the Migration and Asylum Pact. The Government of Spain's policy is moving in this direction, which is why we are working hard on the Integration and Coexistence Plan so that it becomes an essential tool in this area," Saiz explained.

"It is time to put aside demagogy, tolerant speeches with racism and closed-mindedness. We must manage migration for what it is: a great challenge and a huge opportunity to meet Europe's demographic challenge. It is an opportunity for growth and enrichment, both economically and culturally. And knowing how to manage this opportunity involves the integration and inclusion of the people who come."

Intervention in the Justice and Home Affairs Council

Speaking at the plenary session of the Justice and Home Affairs Council, Elma Saiz argued that "the European Migration and Asylum Pact agreed in December 2023 was a milestone after almost a decade of negotiations. Its implementation is a priority for Spain in the coming years. This task should be the focus of our main efforts."

"The Pact has a global dimension," the minister continued, "which we must take care of in the implementation process. The balance between responsibility and solidarity that has guided its drafting has to be reproduced, and elements of the external dimension have to be integrated if possible. We are convinced that strengthening the preventive external dimension of irregular flows, through projects with key third countries, is mutually beneficial."

Elma Saiz explained that Spain's position is to promote "regular and safe migration that protects human rights while responding to the needs of our labour market. We do not believe that detention centres in third countries are a solution, they are not effective and do not seem economically viable."

Bilateral meetings

Elma Saiz also held bilateral meetings with the Vice-President and Commissioner for Social Rights, Roxana Mînzatu, and with the Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner.

In her meeting with Roxana Mînzatu, Executive Vice-President for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Employment and Preparation of the EU, Minister Saiz shared the latest advances in migratory matters undertaken in Spain, such as the reform of the Foreigners Regulation, which opens new channels for regularisation for people already in Spain, and the design of circular migration mechanisms with strategic countries such as Senegal, Mauritania, The Gambia, and also Morocco.

Elma Saiz also met with Magnus Brunner, the new Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, with whom she shared the importance of enriching the migration debate by integrating the humanitarian perspective.

Non official translation