In 2016 you created the network of racialized and migrated women from Euskal Herria, with what objectives do you set up?

We are a non-mixed group, composed exclusively of racialized and migrated women living in the Basque Country, with the objective of reflecting on the situation we live in the Basque Country. The proposal is to continue with the legacy of our ancestors; that is, to build a feminism that fights against racism, colonization and the patriarchal order we suffer.

You have stressed the importance of listening to the voice of the women who suffer from colonialism ...

We saw it necessary to create networks among ourselves, to talk about our own things, that affect us, because they are different from those that other bodies live in within a colonial, racist, capitalist and heteropatriarchal system. It's also the need to build our own narratives without intermediaries. For example, if we have to talk about migrated women, let us be the ones who take the floor and take the lead, debate and put all those arguments on the table.

Why fortress Europe?

Europe, like many countries in the North, is closed, leaving the right to migrate only to some and not to all, thus violating human rights. Colonialism is still in force; ships were used before and now adopts modernity, international companies and the form of development aid. Borders are being erected for people, but not for raw materials and goods. This continuous capture and impoverishment is the cause of migration. Behind the hegemonic discourse there is a social, rational order. This extremism forces thousands of people to migrate; many people do not want to migrate and are forced to do so. Some bodies are also condemned to death; through necropolicies, these death policies condemn many people to death. An example of this is one of the largest mass graves we have today, the Mediterranean. Thus, the strong Europe must be understood in the current context as a consequence of the existing colonial system for trade and not for people.

What does this closure mean for the European states?

In the case of the Spanish State, for example, control of migration policy has become a major industry. According to data from Fundación Por Causa, between 2014 and 2019 the Spanish Government awarded more than 164 million euros to migratory control companies through more than 1,600 public contracts, the majority awarded without a public tender.

How can we cope with this hegemonic discourse and colonialism?

People who are racialized and migrated are very varied in our struggles, so different resistances emerge, such as the narrative itself. In the case of my collective, seeing things under the paradigm of decoloniality gives meaning to everything that happens, and not understanding reality as a continuous line. For us, the lines are circular, fixing where we come from and where we go.