There is a unique context in the Basque Country, a local dynamic of
support for exiles rooted in a long history of smuggling and open arms
to refugees. Basques are well-placed to understand migrants, since,
since the end of the 19th century, many went to the Americas because of
poverty. ---- Those in solidarity with migrants describe the Basque
Country as a land of passage and welcome, as it was for those fleeing
the Pétainist and Nazi regimes, the dictatorships of Salazar and Franco,
the repression by the Spanish "young democracy" aided by its spies
(Spanish Basque Battalions, GAL) against independence activists in the
South (a campaign then led to accommodate them was called "one refugee,
one roof"). But the welcome was also made, and continues to be made, in
favor of those fleeing poverty, hunger, violence of all kinds, wars ...
In the Basque Country, associations of solidarity with exiles remain
very much alive. The Etorkinekin Diakité federation (1) is one of them.
Presentation of the federation
Initially, in 2015, it was a Collective; In 2021, it was transformed
into a Federation called Etorkinekin Diakité Solidariteìs migrants -
Etorkinekin Federazioa". It brings together 12 associations throughout
the northern Basque Country as well as individuals, representing around
two hundred people. The local context has changed significantly since
2018; the number of migrants welcomed has increased considerably, a
consequence of the change in migration routes which have passed and
still increasingly pass through Spain, from sub-Saharan countries, via
the desert or the Canaries.
The federation pursues two objectives by establishing two commissions
that operate collectively and autonomously, and which report on their
activities through an internal liaison journal.
A "solidarity support" commission works to strengthen and coordinate the
reception, accommodation and support of migrants in the Basque Country.
This is achieved through regular meetings and exchanges between members
of local associations, a youth group (which deals with unrecognized
minors, see box 1), and a psychosocial support group.
A "public action" commission includes two components:
One addresses the issue of migrant employment (regularization through
work) with the participation of Cimade, employee unions (LAB,
Solidaires, FSU, CFDT, CGT construction, Labor Inspectorate) and
discussions with entrepreneurs and employer associations. The
objectives: to inform migrants about their rights as workers, even
undocumented ones; to help them obtain these papers by detecting
individual or possibly collective regularization opportunities; to gain
a more precise vision of local practices and, if necessary, to take
legal action against abusive employers. Regular consultations are organized.
The other component is responsible for providing information on the
migration policies of Europe and France to denounce their harmful
consequences; this is done through articles in the press, actions and
mobilizations to demand a policy for welcoming migrants that respects
their fundamental rights.
The actions are very varied and are carried out at the level of local
associations and/or the federation: concerts, interventions in schools,
stands at markets or on the occasion of large mobilizations (farmers,
housing, May 1st, Korrika for the Basque language, Aberri Eguna - Basque
Homeland Day...), round tables, film debates in local cinemas;
conferences (Darmanin law, European pact, Retailleau decrees, situation
at the CRA - administrative detention center - in Hendaye, forum on the
theme of migration and work...),
A "Mugarik gabe" ("without borders") festival was organized in September
and October 2024; a second edition will take place this year, providing
information and debating issues concerning migration and solidarity, but
also highlighting the struggles waged for a dignified welcome for exiles.
In addition, observation work at the Irun-Hendaye border (3), monitored
daily by French police, is carried out each year alongside members of
CAFI (Coordination of Interacting Actions at Internal Borders) and Anafé
(National Association for Border Assistance for Foreigners) with a view
to recording rights violations: police checks based on appearance,
illegal pushbacks, etc. The hunt for exiles is still as prevalent as
ever and forces migrants to take more and more risks: since 2021, nine
of them have lost their lives at the Basque border.
These public actions are carried out as much as possible with other
local political, trade union and associative forces. This is how the
demonstrations called on a national and international scale are relayed:
International Refugee Day, Solidarity March, Commér'action (which pays
tribute each year to the thousands of deaths on the road to exile
because of padlocked and militarized borders).
And, of course, mobilizations linked to local situations are organized,
against the closure of the Hendaye-Irun border, against the CRA of
Hendaye, against the arrival of Retailleau at the border and in Biarritz
(as on April 11), against cases of repression, arrests of migrants
and/or solidarity... And the federation is also involved, with its
specificity, in demonstrations on general themes (housing,
anti-speculation, health...)
Externally, the Federation has created and continues to expand a network
of contacts and exchanges with other collectives, sister associations in
the southern Basque Country as well as in Béarn for exchanges of
information and joint actions concerning in particular the unaccompanied
minors. In France, the federation is part of a network created several
years ago with associations active on the three borders: Tous Migrants,
La Roya Citoyenne (Alps), Plateforme de Soutien aux migrants (Manche),
ASTI 66 (Catalonia).
Repression against Solidaires increases...
Solidarity activists, including members of the local Bidasoa group, on
the Hendaye-Irun border, who are trying to evade police checks on
migrants by accompanying them by car to the Pausa center in Bayonne,
have been subjected to repeated checks (three of them were shocked to
discover that they had had a bug installed under their car for several
months) and police custody. The
most recent arrest resulted in 7 activists being charged with aiding "in
an organized gang the entry, movement, and stay in France of illegal
immigrants" and being summoned to appear before the Bayonne court. As
part of the Korrika, a race of more than 2,000 km across the Basque
Country, which brings together thousands of people for around ten days
to promote the Basque language, 36 exiles entered France between Irun
and Hendaye, mingling with other participants in the race. Around twenty
associations, unions, and political parties claimed responsibility for
this "act of civil disobedience." A demonstration in support of the
accused supporters, bringing together around 2,500 people, from Irun to
Béhobie via Hendaye, took place on January 28. Eighty organizations and
several hundred individuals signed a symbolic act of self-incrimination
by which they acknowledge having also participated in accompanying
people on part of their migration journey. This text, entitled "I
Accuse," contests the accusations against the Hendaye 7 in order to
better symbolically turn them against Fortress Europe and its murderous
anti-migration policies.
The judgment against the "7", which was due to take place at the end of
January, was postponed until October 7, at the request of the lawyers to
complete the file.
The border falls
...and migrants, subject to increased controls
According to the prefect of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, the department
was, in 2025, "the first gateway to France for illegal immigration."
Thus, at the end of March, the government deployed for the first time
the "border force," mobilizing reinforcements from the police,
gendarmerie, customs, and army. The territory was thus the scene of an
unprecedented show of force to control "migratory flows," spanning
several days, bringing together nearly 350 repressive personnel
mobilized (4 times more than in "normal" times) and deployed at the 19
border crossing points. The prefect boasted of having "intercepted" 224
migrants handed over to the Spanish authorities or subjected to an OQTF,
or detained in the Hendaye CRA. He promised new police operations. He
also announced the creation of a specialized intelligence unit dedicated
to the fight against "illegal" immigration and people-smuggling networks.
MNA, unaccompanied
and unrecognized minors
The federation's action has been strengthened to support unacknowledged
minors (UMAs) not recognized by the department, who have been wandering
on the Basque coast in increasing numbers since 2024. Since
the inter-departmental fingerprint database has been generalized, a
young person can no longer attempt to be recognized as a minor in
another department. They therefore find themselves stuck in the 64
department.
The time taken to appeal to the juvenile court can last a year and is
very uncertain (here, 87% of young people are refused). While waiting
for their minority to be recognized, young people are on the streets and
most schools refuse them.
Hence a battle with the mayors of the Basque Country urban community
(CAPB), on the one hand for an emergency and temporary accommodation
solution in Pausa (2), which was hard-negotiated for 15 of them for a
period of 8 months (others are housed with families, but the
possibilities remain limited), on the other hand for all municipalities
to get involved in the search for a lasting solution for these young
people left on the streets and without protection. In addition, the
federation is studying the possibility of a more sustainable collective
housing project.
The federation also aims for young people to acquire more and more
autonomy and collective capacities.
Demonstration in Hendaye following the death of a migrant
Limits and difficulties of solidarity action
There are many associations concerned with the fate of migrants in
France, whether humanitarian or more political. The line between these
two characteristics is not necessarily clear, since opening one's door
and providing support to people whom a state leaves without rights and
seeks to marginalize, exclude, or expel can be considered an act of
resistance, and therefore ultimately political.
However, in the Etorkinekin Diakité federation, the distance is quite
significant between those who act primarily for humanitarian reasons and
those who try to contextualize what migration and the policies that
accompany it mean in a capitalist world based on exploitation,
hierarchies, and inequalities.
Certainly, the help and support provided to migrants are absolutely
necessary, as they are threatened and deprived of any rights. They find
themselves placed in an area where rights and living conditions are
diminished, in a social and legal space situated between exclusion from
citizenship and exclusion from the territory. Fortunately, there is no
shortage of acts of kindness towards them within the population, despite
attempts by governments and right-wing and far-right parties to reject
them and make them scapegoats.
However, aid and outpourings of solidarity do not go very far and are
not enough; they do not lead to tangible successes, except in small
ways, on a case-by-case basis and in a random manner. Moreover, they are
not satisfactory because they compensate for the shortcomings that the
State knowingly maintains and they take charge of what should be the
responsibility of an entire society; because, also, it is difficult to
talk about solidarity when there is, whatever one may say, a hierarchy
between helpers and those helped; this aid risks transforming those
helped into those who are assisted; Moreover, very few migrants start to
organize and take action once their situation has stabilized, as the
fear of repression continues to weigh heavily. Aid replaces a struggle
that should be waged together, as equals.
The actions carried out by the Etorkinekin federation in support of
migrants are drops of water in the ocean of needs. But do we have a
choice? What states are doing against migrants is a radical challenge to
the majority of social gains (achieved). The deterioration of their
rights contaminates the whole of society and prepares for the regression
and deterioration of the rights of all. There is a need and an urgency
to resist collectively and to mobilize for a policy of reception and
solidarity based on equal rights, respect for the dignity and freedoms
of all.
Kris, September 20
Contact Etorkinekin Diakité Federation by email: contact at Etorkinekin.eus
Notes
1- Etorkinekin means "with those who arrive"; the Diakité association,
affiliated with the federation, has a location in Bayonne where migrants
can obtain clothing, hygiene kits, or an interview with a doctor.
2- The PAUSA reception center was opened in the summer of 2018: it
allows migrants to stop for 3 days/3 nights. Several dozen of them have
been accommodated there. This center, located in Bayonne, is managed by
the town hall and financed by the Communauté d'agglomération du Pays
basque (CAPB). In February 2025, the CAPB obtained a refund of nearly
one million euros from the State, which had been convicted in court for
failing to provide emergency accommodation, for its first year of operation.
3- French land border controls were reinstated after the Paris attacks
in 2015, initially only temporarily. But while the Schengen Agreement
provides for free movement between signatory European states, this
exceptional measure has since been renewed every six months, in the name
of "the terrorist threat," by the French state alone. Abertzale
activists (autonomists or independence supporters) do not recognize a
border in the middle of Basque territory; this is one of the reasons why
they demand that the Hendaye-Irun crossing be freed and that the
barriers there be removed.
http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4527
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
support for exiles rooted in a long history of smuggling and open arms
to refugees. Basques are well-placed to understand migrants, since,
since the end of the 19th century, many went to the Americas because of
poverty. ---- Those in solidarity with migrants describe the Basque
Country as a land of passage and welcome, as it was for those fleeing
the Pétainist and Nazi regimes, the dictatorships of Salazar and Franco,
the repression by the Spanish "young democracy" aided by its spies
(Spanish Basque Battalions, GAL) against independence activists in the
South (a campaign then led to accommodate them was called "one refugee,
one roof"). But the welcome was also made, and continues to be made, in
favor of those fleeing poverty, hunger, violence of all kinds, wars ...
In the Basque Country, associations of solidarity with exiles remain
very much alive. The Etorkinekin Diakité federation (1) is one of them.
Presentation of the federation
Initially, in 2015, it was a Collective; In 2021, it was transformed
into a Federation called Etorkinekin Diakité Solidariteìs migrants -
Etorkinekin Federazioa". It brings together 12 associations throughout
the northern Basque Country as well as individuals, representing around
two hundred people. The local context has changed significantly since
2018; the number of migrants welcomed has increased considerably, a
consequence of the change in migration routes which have passed and
still increasingly pass through Spain, from sub-Saharan countries, via
the desert or the Canaries.
The federation pursues two objectives by establishing two commissions
that operate collectively and autonomously, and which report on their
activities through an internal liaison journal.
A "solidarity support" commission works to strengthen and coordinate the
reception, accommodation and support of migrants in the Basque Country.
This is achieved through regular meetings and exchanges between members
of local associations, a youth group (which deals with unrecognized
minors, see box 1), and a psychosocial support group.
A "public action" commission includes two components:
One addresses the issue of migrant employment (regularization through
work) with the participation of Cimade, employee unions (LAB,
Solidaires, FSU, CFDT, CGT construction, Labor Inspectorate) and
discussions with entrepreneurs and employer associations. The
objectives: to inform migrants about their rights as workers, even
undocumented ones; to help them obtain these papers by detecting
individual or possibly collective regularization opportunities; to gain
a more precise vision of local practices and, if necessary, to take
legal action against abusive employers. Regular consultations are organized.
The other component is responsible for providing information on the
migration policies of Europe and France to denounce their harmful
consequences; this is done through articles in the press, actions and
mobilizations to demand a policy for welcoming migrants that respects
their fundamental rights.
The actions are very varied and are carried out at the level of local
associations and/or the federation: concerts, interventions in schools,
stands at markets or on the occasion of large mobilizations (farmers,
housing, May 1st, Korrika for the Basque language, Aberri Eguna - Basque
Homeland Day...), round tables, film debates in local cinemas;
conferences (Darmanin law, European pact, Retailleau decrees, situation
at the CRA - administrative detention center - in Hendaye, forum on the
theme of migration and work...),
A "Mugarik gabe" ("without borders") festival was organized in September
and October 2024; a second edition will take place this year, providing
information and debating issues concerning migration and solidarity, but
also highlighting the struggles waged for a dignified welcome for exiles.
In addition, observation work at the Irun-Hendaye border (3), monitored
daily by French police, is carried out each year alongside members of
CAFI (Coordination of Interacting Actions at Internal Borders) and Anafé
(National Association for Border Assistance for Foreigners) with a view
to recording rights violations: police checks based on appearance,
illegal pushbacks, etc. The hunt for exiles is still as prevalent as
ever and forces migrants to take more and more risks: since 2021, nine
of them have lost their lives at the Basque border.
These public actions are carried out as much as possible with other
local political, trade union and associative forces. This is how the
demonstrations called on a national and international scale are relayed:
International Refugee Day, Solidarity March, Commér'action (which pays
tribute each year to the thousands of deaths on the road to exile
because of padlocked and militarized borders).
And, of course, mobilizations linked to local situations are organized,
against the closure of the Hendaye-Irun border, against the CRA of
Hendaye, against the arrival of Retailleau at the border and in Biarritz
(as on April 11), against cases of repression, arrests of migrants
and/or solidarity... And the federation is also involved, with its
specificity, in demonstrations on general themes (housing,
anti-speculation, health...)
Externally, the Federation has created and continues to expand a network
of contacts and exchanges with other collectives, sister associations in
the southern Basque Country as well as in Béarn for exchanges of
information and joint actions concerning in particular the unaccompanied
minors. In France, the federation is part of a network created several
years ago with associations active on the three borders: Tous Migrants,
La Roya Citoyenne (Alps), Plateforme de Soutien aux migrants (Manche),
ASTI 66 (Catalonia).
Repression against Solidaires increases...
Solidarity activists, including members of the local Bidasoa group, on
the Hendaye-Irun border, who are trying to evade police checks on
migrants by accompanying them by car to the Pausa center in Bayonne,
have been subjected to repeated checks (three of them were shocked to
discover that they had had a bug installed under their car for several
months) and police custody. The
most recent arrest resulted in 7 activists being charged with aiding "in
an organized gang the entry, movement, and stay in France of illegal
immigrants" and being summoned to appear before the Bayonne court. As
part of the Korrika, a race of more than 2,000 km across the Basque
Country, which brings together thousands of people for around ten days
to promote the Basque language, 36 exiles entered France between Irun
and Hendaye, mingling with other participants in the race. Around twenty
associations, unions, and political parties claimed responsibility for
this "act of civil disobedience." A demonstration in support of the
accused supporters, bringing together around 2,500 people, from Irun to
Béhobie via Hendaye, took place on January 28. Eighty organizations and
several hundred individuals signed a symbolic act of self-incrimination
by which they acknowledge having also participated in accompanying
people on part of their migration journey. This text, entitled "I
Accuse," contests the accusations against the Hendaye 7 in order to
better symbolically turn them against Fortress Europe and its murderous
anti-migration policies.
The judgment against the "7", which was due to take place at the end of
January, was postponed until October 7, at the request of the lawyers to
complete the file.
The border falls
...and migrants, subject to increased controls
According to the prefect of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, the department
was, in 2025, "the first gateway to France for illegal immigration."
Thus, at the end of March, the government deployed for the first time
the "border force," mobilizing reinforcements from the police,
gendarmerie, customs, and army. The territory was thus the scene of an
unprecedented show of force to control "migratory flows," spanning
several days, bringing together nearly 350 repressive personnel
mobilized (4 times more than in "normal" times) and deployed at the 19
border crossing points. The prefect boasted of having "intercepted" 224
migrants handed over to the Spanish authorities or subjected to an OQTF,
or detained in the Hendaye CRA. He promised new police operations. He
also announced the creation of a specialized intelligence unit dedicated
to the fight against "illegal" immigration and people-smuggling networks.
MNA, unaccompanied
and unrecognized minors
The federation's action has been strengthened to support unacknowledged
minors (UMAs) not recognized by the department, who have been wandering
on the Basque coast in increasing numbers since 2024. Since
the inter-departmental fingerprint database has been generalized, a
young person can no longer attempt to be recognized as a minor in
another department. They therefore find themselves stuck in the 64
department.
The time taken to appeal to the juvenile court can last a year and is
very uncertain (here, 87% of young people are refused). While waiting
for their minority to be recognized, young people are on the streets and
most schools refuse them.
Hence a battle with the mayors of the Basque Country urban community
(CAPB), on the one hand for an emergency and temporary accommodation
solution in Pausa (2), which was hard-negotiated for 15 of them for a
period of 8 months (others are housed with families, but the
possibilities remain limited), on the other hand for all municipalities
to get involved in the search for a lasting solution for these young
people left on the streets and without protection. In addition, the
federation is studying the possibility of a more sustainable collective
housing project.
The federation also aims for young people to acquire more and more
autonomy and collective capacities.
Demonstration in Hendaye following the death of a migrant
Limits and difficulties of solidarity action
There are many associations concerned with the fate of migrants in
France, whether humanitarian or more political. The line between these
two characteristics is not necessarily clear, since opening one's door
and providing support to people whom a state leaves without rights and
seeks to marginalize, exclude, or expel can be considered an act of
resistance, and therefore ultimately political.
However, in the Etorkinekin Diakité federation, the distance is quite
significant between those who act primarily for humanitarian reasons and
those who try to contextualize what migration and the policies that
accompany it mean in a capitalist world based on exploitation,
hierarchies, and inequalities.
Certainly, the help and support provided to migrants are absolutely
necessary, as they are threatened and deprived of any rights. They find
themselves placed in an area where rights and living conditions are
diminished, in a social and legal space situated between exclusion from
citizenship and exclusion from the territory. Fortunately, there is no
shortage of acts of kindness towards them within the population, despite
attempts by governments and right-wing and far-right parties to reject
them and make them scapegoats.
However, aid and outpourings of solidarity do not go very far and are
not enough; they do not lead to tangible successes, except in small
ways, on a case-by-case basis and in a random manner. Moreover, they are
not satisfactory because they compensate for the shortcomings that the
State knowingly maintains and they take charge of what should be the
responsibility of an entire society; because, also, it is difficult to
talk about solidarity when there is, whatever one may say, a hierarchy
between helpers and those helped; this aid risks transforming those
helped into those who are assisted; Moreover, very few migrants start to
organize and take action once their situation has stabilized, as the
fear of repression continues to weigh heavily. Aid replaces a struggle
that should be waged together, as equals.
The actions carried out by the Etorkinekin federation in support of
migrants are drops of water in the ocean of needs. But do we have a
choice? What states are doing against migrants is a radical challenge to
the majority of social gains (achieved). The deterioration of their
rights contaminates the whole of society and prepares for the regression
and deterioration of the rights of all. There is a need and an urgency
to resist collectively and to mobilize for a policy of reception and
solidarity based on equal rights, respect for the dignity and freedoms
of all.
Kris, September 20
Contact Etorkinekin Diakité Federation by email: contact at Etorkinekin.eus
Notes
1- Etorkinekin means "with those who arrive"; the Diakité association,
affiliated with the federation, has a location in Bayonne where migrants
can obtain clothing, hygiene kits, or an interview with a doctor.
2- The PAUSA reception center was opened in the summer of 2018: it
allows migrants to stop for 3 days/3 nights. Several dozen of them have
been accommodated there. This center, located in Bayonne, is managed by
the town hall and financed by the Communauté d'agglomération du Pays
basque (CAPB). In February 2025, the CAPB obtained a refund of nearly
one million euros from the State, which had been convicted in court for
failing to provide emergency accommodation, for its first year of operation.
3- French land border controls were reinstated after the Paris attacks
in 2015, initially only temporarily. But while the Schengen Agreement
provides for free movement between signatory European states, this
exceptional measure has since been renewed every six months, in the name
of "the terrorist threat," by the French state alone. Abertzale
activists (autonomists or independence supporters) do not recognize a
border in the middle of Basque territory; this is one of the reasons why
they demand that the Hendaye-Irun crossing be freed and that the
barriers there be removed.
http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4527
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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