The discourse of insecurity is not foreign to us, as it is spreading with great force here and there, and the connection of migrants to crime is also a message that some politicians and the media are spreading. The Prefect of the Atlantic Pyrenees, Jean-Marie Girien, was the last to do so, claiming that just over half of the crimes committed in the North Basque Country last January were committed by undocumented migrants. If we widen the focus and take the last two years before, however, neither in 2023 nor in 2024 has this occurred and of the total percentage of offenders the minority is of foreign origin.

If the reflection is further broadened, there has been no discussion as to what alternative is offered to these undocumented and often hopeless people, why they are so often condemned to behave illegally in order to survive. The solution is to expel them, in the image of the prefect.

The Prefect adds that the Department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques is the main route used by migrants to enter France and that the number of undocumented persons who follow this route has increased considerably, as an argument for strengthening controls.

The police have also provided data on apprehension at the border: In 2024, an average of 438 "illegal" migrants were intercepted each month.

On the open question of helping several people cross the border by running, he said that “illegal entry” should not be helped, “and they are especially vigilant.”

The risk of delinquency

He is the protagonist of many speeches of insecurity and delinquency in recent times. He's not even a stranger in the Northern Basque Country. Arguing that "anti-populist behavior has increased in recent months", the local police decided last October to arm the municipal government of Hendaye, as we told LARA. The local police in Anglet, Bayonne, Biarritz, Ziburu, Urruña and Saint-Jean-de-Luz also carry weapons.