Dec 19, 2025
3 min read
Open Arms founder Oscar Kemp condemned the EU's lack of solidarity with the archipelago in the Canary Islands parliament.
Óscar Camps, founder of Open Arms: "Europe invests more in stopping deportations than in preventing deaths"
The founder of Open Arms, Oscar Camps, criticized the lack of EU integration in the Canary Islands parliament.
"Europe invests more in stopping departures than in preventing deaths."That was the central message that the founder and director of Open Arms, Óscar Camps, brought this morning to the European Affairs Committee in the Parliament of the Canary Islands, where he said that the regional migration policy is based on walls, external borders and paying third parties to control the departure, while Europe "looks the other way".A policy, he said, that does not prevent the movement of people, but instead changes the route back and makes it longer and more deadly.
Camps recalled that more than 10,000 people died trying to reach Spain in 2024. In his opinion, what happened in the Atlantic was not an accident or an inevitable phenomenon, but a direct consequence of European political decisions."What kills is not the waves, but the lack of alternatives", he warned, stressing that human rights "cease to be universal" when they are not respected at sea.
The founder of Open Arms positioned the Canary Islands as "the first line without European cover", a region that, despite its capacity to adapt, alone accepted responsibility that should be shared by all EU states.He criticized that Brussels continues to act "as if the archipelago is a geographical margin" and not a strategic point where it is fighting a "deadly war" that Europe does not want to see.According to Kemps, the Canary Islands now have a chance to become the region in which Europe regains its original meaning."Defending human rights at every border," he recalled.
He also called for internal harmony: if Spain wanted to ask for solidarity from the Union, it must obey it from within its own borders.He recalled that many autonomous communities do not undertake quotas for immigrant minors, which calls into question the country's moral authority vis-à-vis its European partners.
Camps defended that the solution could not be limited to maritime control.He emphasized the need for legal migration routes, real investments in countries of origin and transparent agreements with third countries.He pointed out that the EU has renewed agreements with Libya and is moving towards a similar model with Tunisia and Algeria, despite serious violations of human rights in these countries.
He insisted that non-governmental organizations are not responsible for the phenomenon of migration, but that it is an indication of the lack of an effective public search and rescue system.He said that criminalizing these groups only shows the "practical and moral" void left by states at sea.
After his intervention, a majority of parliamentary groups agreed on the need for European support.On behalf of the Mixed Group, Raúl Acosta thanked Open Arms for its hard work and condemned the government's “negligence” in confronting the structural problems it continues to face even as they spread to coastal areas.highlighted which increases emissions.From Nueva Canarias, Esther González warns of European policy drift and the absence of a stable distribution system.By Jennifer Curbelo The Popular Party regrets that the Canary Islands alone continue to manage a situation that is beyond the reach of any government.This is a sufficient means to save all lives in danger.
The PSOE, represented by Gustavo Matos, justified the Canarian culture of exploration and defended that mobility is part of the human condition."Europe continues to be a moral reference for thousands of citizens. "These basic values continue to be our best card, we must respect them," he said.
The political tensions came with the intervention of Vox.MP Paula Jover accused NGOs of profiting from irregular migration and blamed organizations such as Open Arms for the "dial effect".Camps used the runoff to respond and remind Jover that his team exists because the states have left a void that someone has to fill.He also condemned the harassment campaigns he and his family have been subjected to.
The founder of Open Arms concluded his speech by appealing to European responsibility: Saving lives, he says, is not an option, but a legal and moral obligation.As long as this proposal is not accepted with all its consequences, he warns, the roads will not disappear: they will multiply.
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