Tessfit eritrea, 21 years old; Yaya, Bolivian, 28 years old; Abdulaye guineana, 17 years old; an unknown bulicostar, 28 years old; Mohamed, Fayçal, and an unknown third, 21, 23 and 30 years, the three Algerians. At least seven citizens have lost their lives in 2021 by blocking the administrative border between Irun and Hendaia. The seven foreigners, the seven who then come to Europe in search of a better one and the seven who are forced to take vital risks in order to avoid police controls.

"The Mediterranean was visible; now, the Pyrenean environment is also a new cemetery of immigrants, such as the border between Italy and France and La Mancha." These are the words of the jurist Claire Rodier. Fight for the rights of immigrants from the same street as in the courts, from the Gisti association which guides information and support for immigrants and from the Migreurop structure created to monitor Europe’s migration policies.

We have started to look at the reality between Irun and Hendaia, because if nothing changes, there will be more deaths: What is the current reality? Having asylum and migration policy in the hands of the European Union and the States, what are the local institutions doing at the forefront? What do they do, what do they not do and what can they do? Maleruski, for good words do not prevent the currents of the Bidasoa and the slopes of the slopes. We have discussed these questions with Xabier Legarreta, Director of Migration and Asylum of the Basque Government, Joseba Erremunerdegi, Vice-President of Cross-Border Relations of the Basque Country Hiria Elkargoa, Kotte Escarro de Hendaia and David Nuño, a majority of the Irun County House. We have also talked to Josune Mendigutxia, the Irun Reception Network, who knows perfectly well about this border, which meets almost every morning with immigrants in the Plaza de San Juan.

The intestine of borders does not imply the cessation of migration...

In this cold and brutal morning of December, some fifteen young people are being advised by the Reception Network: To show where we are exactly on the European map, to report on the level of risk of the different routes, to explain the procedure for requesting asylum, to advise the attitude to adopt towards the police... A few days before, the loathsome Bolicolagos that had been there again appear desperate. Controlled by the police in Baiona, it is located again, across the administrative border. He made the crossing to Ipar Euskal Herria. Ask about the number of specimens he made and excites one by one all the ends of the two hands: he spent the whole night walking down the mountain.

"The fact that certain corridors remain closed does not in any case impede their intention to leave." We can read this out by Jean-René Etxegarai, President of the Basque Government, Euskal Hiria Elkargoa, and Iñigo Urkullu, President of the Basque Government, at the end of November, in a hand-written document. His "discontent" and "maximum concern" were manifested the day after the last drama in the Bidasoa. Manifestations between the two institutions are not common, and this is already a test of the consideration of the problem. They ask the European Union and the Member States "to ensure safe transit" for migrants in transit.

France defeated the administrative border between the Northern Basque Country and the South in March 2020 due to the coronavirus plague, and has since been disappointed by the "terrorist threat" and "clandestine immigration". The controls I had since November 2015 have been extended for the same reasons. High, since 1995 it has been possible to move freely within Europe thanks to the Schengen area. This seems to be a past issue, as the derogation introduced by the Schengen regulations has become a new rule. In fact, in "abnormal" situations, control of internal limits can be restored. That's where we are. "The request for exemption should be routinely addressed to the European Commission, whether as irregular immigration, the fight against terrorism or health measures, always has an excuse for France. The principle of freedom of movement is no more in the Schengen area, and, of course, immigrants mostly suffer from border control," says lawyer Rodier. As could not be otherwise, the principle of non-refoulement guaranteed by the Geneva Convention is, in most cases, in a state of bleeding, as demonstrated by the quoted vulgar's testimony.

This is the big problem on which it rests, and local institutions have little influence, as the decision on borders does not depend on them. "It is not our competence, we are spokesmen for the dramas we suffer in our territory and the demands of the citizens, but we are not listened to." They are words of Escarro and the same feeling across the border: "Spain listens to us, but the other states do not take us into account; Europe has good words, but they are empty words," says Nuño de Irún.

The presence of the passer's mafia is also a consequence of the closure of borders. It's obvious in Irun. There is everything, but crossing the Irun-Hendaia border costs about EUR 150. But Rodier is clear and the elected officials add to the following statement: "The raiders are Benedictine loaves for France that serve them to complete their false speech. It's not said that the pins are there because the boundaries are desperate."

Need to press

The journalist asks whether, at least without competence, they put pressure on those in the decision-making centres. That they all do, that they walk. The Minister of Equality, Justice and Social Policies, Beatriz Artolazabal, refers to the letter sent on November 22 to the Spanish Minister of Society, José Luis Escriva, by the counselor of Equality, Justice and Social Policies, and says that "they take advantage of all spaces to make an impact". The request for the unification of the inter-regional commission that has not met since 2018 has also been transferred to Madrid. Nuño goes the same way: "We use the tools we have to press, as a media group, through our parliamentarians in the Basque Parliament, our Members in the Spanish Congress and also in Europe thanks to our MEPs." In August MEP Idoia Villanueva submitted a written request to the European Commissioner for Internal Affairs, Ylva Johansson, denouncing the situation between Irun and Hendaia. If we ask about pressure, the people in the North are also affirming. They have as an example the declarations and documents published the day after the deaths of immigrants. However, the journalist sees in these answers more than "pressure" an "interpellation." The pressure would be to repeat and tighten the interpellation. However, both Erremunerdegi and Escenarro launch a series of concrete actions.

The Basque College begins a legal examination

The Basque Urban College intends to initiate a legal study on the legality of ongoing police checks on the immigrant population. "We assume that there are legal bases to conclude that these controls are denounceable and go against the constitution." That is what they want to demonstrate, in order to ensure a safe path to the undocumented: "The aim of this legal step is to press. We want immigrants to be able to take public transport. Obviously, we cannot channel special buses, it would be too dangerous because it would be "giving" the police to immigrants and because the school would also be illegal. We are looking for a safe path. With the passage [the refuge of walkers in Baiona for a few days since 2018] something similar to a townhouse was achieved; Etxegarai got engaged and assumed responsibilities outside the law, not in the illegality, but in the allegation. It's also a form of pressure."

Escarro also tells that Irun's candidate has been told the proposal of an act of disobedience: to include along with the immigrants in a bus the neighbors of Irun, Hondarribia and Hendaia, and to cross the border, warning the media. But the idea doesn't satisfy you. "Of course the photo would be nice, the three mayors and the immigrants in the hands of the police, but the next day we would have the problem in the same proportion. I'm not interested in photography, I'm excited about the problem." The Court of Hendaia considers that the French State must be called into question because the border problem is decided in Paris: "What we can do is very simple and rational: the interpellation of states. If the bordering peoples have the habit and tradition of reception, we know it, but the present I do not say it from there." At the end of November, the neighbours of Hendaia, Irun and Hondarribia drafted a joint document asking the European Union and the Member States "to take the necessary steps to solve the problem".

By default, dignified care

"Of course, they cannot make them cross the border illegally, but local institutions can offer a dignified reception: securing shelter, accepting traffic, sustaining the structures that channel assistance. All this serves to alleviate some of the life difficulties and it is a lot that is walking", says the jurist. Furthermore, it says that it also influences politically, because it serves to lighten the "violent and resilient" policy of the European Union a little. Decent reception is one of the priorities of the Basque Government and is managed within the Interinstitutional Coordination Bureau and the houses of the people of Irun. It includes the Basque Government, the three Basque Foreign Ministers, the municipalities of the three capitals, Irún and Hondarribia, the Spanish delegation, the Ertzaintza, the Red Cross, the Cear-Euskadi, racism SOS and the Medical NGO of the World. They have developed a special contingency plan with the necessary infrastructure to serve 500 people in case of need.

Speaking with Legarreta, on November 21 there were 6,887 immigrants going through this reception service in 2021 – the first year, 2018, 5,837 people; in 2019, 4,244; in 2020, 3,493. Officially, the immigrant may have three days of stay, but not all, because a number of requirements have to be met, such as taking less than a year in the Spanish State, not being a former solitary minor, or others. The three-day deadline is debatable, knowing that the border is defeated and that immigrants cannot cross the border. The Irun Reception Network accuses the institutions of defining the immigrant population "in a restrictive and harmful way", because it knows that some immigrants spend nights in the street following these criteria. "A decent welcome? They're not redirected to everybody. I don't lie, I don't care, last year I said "txapo!" Because they were offered a decent welcome, but this year I can't say that." Legarreta rejects this criticism: "97.7% of our resources have fulfilled the profile. 2.3% of non-compliance. We are limited because the Spanish Government decides on the profile. We do not understand the criticisms in the Basque Government because they know exactly who the decision depends on." Those who manage to cross the administrative border can spend a few days at the Baiona Pause, recovering before continuing through France.

The Basque Urban College has just joined the Interinstitutional Coordination Bureau to improve its reception, thanks to a better sharing of information and coordination. This year the Bureau met three times, last June, and the date of the next meeting has not been reported. Although the telephone relationship is common, the last dead do not seem to need a parallel encounter.

Consideration should be given to referring to the European Commission.

The European Commission is an 'observer' of the Agreements in ensuring that Member States respect European legislation. According to Rodier, associations have on more than one occasion resorted to this matter, supposedly because France’s border control penalises free movement in the Schengen area. For the time being, they have not received an answer, but what it says is "interesting" that institutions so excited directly at the border between Hendaia and Irun come to the European Commission: "It would have more political impact at least."

You may want to comment on your chosen ideas and break this path. Scenery is the clearest: "In consultation with the associations, we are going to Europe out of necessity. The situation is too cruel to be left without doing anything. If we want these disputes to affect Europe, we will have to be many in the streets, in the courts and in the places where necessary." Nuño also says that they are dealing with the path of justice, but he does not want to give more details.

The College also mentioned the way to convene the French Human Rights League when talking about the pressure routes of states and Europe. Legarreta also points out that "racist controls" and eliminatory controls are "illegal" by the French police, and that international agreements are currently not complied with by the French State, among other reasons because they "go beyond the Schengen Convention". Rodier says that it takes time to seriously study this path.

In Euskal Herria, we also suffer the dramatic consequences of European immigration policy. You push hard in the fork, and I push in the female, whether elective or citizens, you have to change the direction of Europe. If it persists, because the deaths of citizens seeking a better life will be repeated.