The hoax about MENAS that guides the VOX campaign

Budget allocations go to the organisations that take care of minors, both nationals and foreigners in vulnerable situations, to cover the costs of their ordinary life; out of the total, MENAS only represent 10% of the children in care.

Unaccompanied Foreign Minors (MENAS), mostly from the Maghreb (especially Morocco and Algeria), sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle East, are sent by their parents under the necessity that the situation of their own land imposes on them: poverty, lack of future prospects, family breakdown, institutional lack of protection, natural disasters, wars and terrorism, persecution and situations of human rights violations¹. In June 2019, according to the Ministry of the Interior, 12,301 MENAS had been counted in Spain.

When they arrive, it is difficult to identify them due to a lack of official documents, as well as a lack of knowledge of the language and the children's fear. Another point to bear in mind, which is added as a handicap, is the diversity of procedures for their reception, as the system varies depending on each Autonomous Community.

Once the child's age has been estimated, he/she is placed in a first reception centre (CPA), admitted by emergency procedure until his/her situation is assessed, and then assigned to the most suitable centre for him/her². It is important to highlight that the childcare centres integrate all types of minors, both nationals and migrants; by way of example, data from the Community of Madrid are shown: of the 4,000 minors under guardianship, 437 are foreigners, representing 10.8% of the total.

It was from 2017 onwards when the situation got out of hand, coinciding with the outbreak of Daesh and other conflicts in North Africa and the Middle East in particular. This situation has pushed the children's centres to the limit. However, in 2019 the number was down by 59% compared to the previous year³.

Guardianship extends until they are 18 years old, when they are provided with Assisted Apartments for Emancipation (Pisos de Acompañamiento a la Emancipación, PAE), acquiring the necessary skills for adult life and their future employment until they are 21 years old (in Madrid there are only 102 places).

Now that we are broadly aware of the situation of MENAS in Spain, we address the issue that so worries the ultra-right and that the VOX party constantly expresses in its speeches and electoral programmes: How much do MENAS cost us?

According to page 6 of the Agreements carried by the Community of Madrid, "the contracting of the temporary residential care service for unaccompanied foreign minors, aged 13 to 17 (16 places), with the Diagrama Psychosocial Intervention Foundation, for an amount of 448,448 euros, from 1 October 2020 until, at the latest, 31 March 2021"⁴, this amount divided into the 16 places which is spread over 6 months gives a total of 4,671.33 euros, the amount mentioned by VOX.

As mentioned above, there are no centres for MENAS; this aid is intended for centres where minors are under guardianship, including mostly Spanish children (71.1%) in conditions of vulnerability. By way of comparison, there are other aids for minors that exceed the aforementioned amount, such as those for psychiatric care (€6,754 per person per month)⁵.

The money is earmarked for the organisations that take care of these children, again highlighting the purpose of the amount: treatment and maintenance of all children in care, Spanish or foreign. "The money goes entirely to helping them to live. So that they can eat, have clothes, books... just as any other family's children", Cáritas Diocesana de Madrid told Newtral.es⁶.

As the newspaper El Español states: "In general terms, there are no economic benefits for MENAS while they are minors, beyond small allowances for their ordinary expenses. From the age of majority, almost all the Autonomous Communities allocate them the Minimum Income established for vulnerable persons [...] ranging from 400 to 700 euros"⁷.

As mentioned in the article 'The reality of terrorism in Europe: what is the real danger'⁸, far-right terrorism has increased by 320%, and there is a sure legitimisation of the use of the extreme right and media protection against them. "In Spain, in 2016 alone, 309 cases of xenophobic attacks were detected. In 2019 there were several xenophobic terrorist attacks against centres for MENAS"⁹.

With the main argument taken by VOX being immigration and fear of jihadism, we cite the article 'Does the jihadist danger emigrate illegally? The reality about the origin of jihadism in Spain', which shows that trends have changed since 2012, with 55.1% of jihadists being nationals compared to 44.9% foreigners. It is worth noting that only 8.1% of foreigners were in an irregular situation, compared to 56.6% who had papers and regular residence status¹⁰.

To conclude with a personal experience, after working with MENAS I have been able to verify the situation faced by these children. In the particular case of 8-year-olds, who arrived on Spanish soil hidden in a lorry and were found by the police once in Madrid, without papers, without family members and without knowing how to speak Spanish, they continue to live a life of mourning. They spend their childhood and youth in centres where the majority of children, frustrated by their precarious family situations, lead them to adopt rebellious and violent attitudes, which obviously does not benefit the situation of the rest of the minors, let alone the socialisation of migrants, who have to face culture shock, all of this on their own.

It is the duty of the state, and of every human being, to take care of all abandoned minors, being aware of the need to ensure their good education and social inclusion, thus avoiding potential breeding grounds for criminality and radicalism. Expenditure on a problem such as this is a necessity, and providing support proves humanity and intelligence.

Amanda Pérez Gómez/Criminologist and international terrorism analyst.

1. Accem. (n.d.). Accem. Retrieved from Accem: https://www.accem.es/vulnerables/menores-extranjeros-no-acompanados-mena/
2.  Cabo, N. (19 July 2020). Without a home, support or resources: the reality of menas when they turn 18. el Plural.
3. elPlural. (7 September 2020). Desmontado el mensaje xenófobo de Vox: la entrada de menores no acompañados a España descendió en 2019 más de un 59% con respecto a 2018. elPlural.
4. VerificaRTVE. (20 April 2021). RTVE. Retrieved from RTVE: https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20210420/cifra-monasterio-sobre-mena-enganosa/2086287.shtml
5. Ibid.
6. Campos, A. M. (20 April 2021). Unaccompanied foreign minors do not receive "4,700 euros a month", the money goes to the organisations that take them in. Newtral.
7. Martí, R. (20 April 2021). La paga mensual de los 'menas' que tanto molesta a Vox va de 400 a 700€: el gasto por autonomía. El Español.
8. Pérez Gómez, A. (2020). The reality of terrorism in Europe: what is the real danger? Atalayar.
9. Ibidem.
10. Pérez Gómez, A. (2021). Does the jihadist danger emigrate illegally? La realidad sobre la procedencia del jihadismo en España. Atalayar.