By Andrew Ede
Dalal Hanin, president of the Moroccan association for coexistence and citizenship, fears that there may be a "clash" with the new government if Vox get a foothold in it.
He refers to a video that appeared in mid-May in which the leader of Vox in the Balearics, Jorge Campos, and two residents described the Pere Garau district of the city as dangerous and highlighted the mosques. Pere Garau has a significant Moroccan community. Hanin considers that this was "hate speech" and says that members of the community are scared and are contemplating leaving.
Farouk Pino of the Immigration Platform in the Balearic Islands, which brings together more than 20 associations of different nationalities, explains that there are "more than 300 nationalities and 70% are in an irregular situation, some 15,000 people". They expect positive agreements with the Partido Popular but at the same time fear that "the extreme right will contaminate them". "This will not be a good thing, either for the islands or for Spain, because they could restrict many of our rights and freedoms for which we have fought so hard."
Groups representing migrants and people in an irregular situation point out that if families decide to leave, labour will be needed. Unskilled jobs are currently covered by migrants, who represent a large part of the workforce in the Balearics. The president of the Federation of Balearic Immigrant Associations, Aida Quisbert, has denounced having suffered racist and xenophobic attacks by groups related to Vox and fears that these will increase.
The Balearic Islamic Commission is meanwhile downplaying the situation. Mahfouz Abu Mahfouz stresses that "religious people are independent of politics, we have no opinion". As to the Balearic Islands Chinese Association, its president Fang Ji says that they are "neutral", but "we will reach out to those political forces that watch over for the rights and interests of the Chinese community".
June 3, 2023 at 12:49PM
via Mallorca Daily Bulletin read more...
0 Comentarios