This Monday the death of the drowned young man in the Bidasoa River was reported in Irun when he tried to cross the border between Hendaia and Irun. In the concentration, held in Plaza de San Juan, hundreds of people have been invited by the Irun Reception Network. In addition, they have called on institutions to change their regime and assume responsibilities to avoid the "human drama" caused by migration policies.

In the absence of official data on the last victim, Naiz reported that he was a young man under the age of 20, identified as Abdoulaye, and Guinea Conakry. It is the third person killed in three months on the border between Gipuzkoa and Lapurdi, following the suicide of a young Eritrean in April, and the drowned death of a man from Côte d'Ivoire in May.

With regard to the increase in cases, the City of Irun has published an institutional declaration with the support of all political parties, underlining the deficit of European migration policies. As they have pointed out in the letter, this regime is “the one that endangers the lives of some people and, unfortunately, leads them to lose”. The Irun Reception Network agrees with this. He has described control policies on the continent as "racists": “Migrants and refugees care little about the European Union and France.”

The two mayors of the border peoples have also agreed on the need to change policies. The Mayor of Hendaia, Kotte Ezenarro, has highlighted “Europe’s responsibility” in this case. For his part, the mayor of Irun, José Antonio Santano, has stated that “coordination” between states must be developed in a different way. In particular, he referred to cooperation between Spain and France in order to avoid cases such as those experienced in Irun.

The case of Irun

The Reception Network has denounced the role that Euskal Herria has to play in the reception of migrants. He explained that Basque public institutions should put in place the necessary resources to protect these people and become "a positive benchmark" in the care of migrants. Nevertheless, Jon Aranguren, a member of the association, has underlined the shortcomings of the institutions. In the case of Irun, Aranguren pointed out that many of the migrants are left outside the reception centre, according to the Berria media. Even though there is room, “because they do not meet the established requirements, they are left on the street, and that also helps to increase their despair.”