The story of Basque grassroots association helping migrants cross the frontier between Spain and France
We have grown all too accustomed to the harrowing stories of migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean looking for a better life, as well as of those actors – from smugglers to politicians – who benefit both economically and politically from this everyday catastrophe. Dangers don’t stop at the gates of Europe, however, for those who in fact are able to make it to its shores.
In their reportage “Pájaros nocturnos sobre el Bidasoa”, journalist Guillermo Rivas and photographer Javi Julio document the efforts of the Basque organisation Irungo Harrera Sarea, one of many grassroots associations born on both sides of the Spanish-French border to help migrants navigate these new foreign, often openly hostile, environs. Dubbed as pájaros nocturnos, itself a translation of the Euskera gautxoris (literally “night birds”), the volunteers of Irungo Harrera Sarea provide a vital service of orientation to migrants, gaining their trust as soon as they spot them around the border and help them cross the river Bidasoa so they can continue their journey through France.
The Schengen Agreement, originally signed in 1985, established an area within Europe where, over time, borders were effectively abolished for both goods and people. As explained in the piece, though, this doesn’t apply to migrants crossing into France from Spain. Since 2015, the French state has used a clause in the agreement which allows it to deny entry to people on the basis of tangible, concrete threats to national security and to detain and expel undocumented migrants – first sweepingly adducing the jihadist threat as justifying this measure, then using the vulnerability of Spanish borders, in particular Ceuta and Melilla, as a pretext.
As a result, the riverbed of the Bidasoa that separates Irún – the Basque town where the Irungo Harrera Sarea operates – from Hendaye, the first town across the border, ceases to be a negligible 100 metre distance easily crossed by bridge. Rather, for migrants coming from Africa, it turns into a treacherous trail beset with dangers and risks.
The article gives an account of the sort of everyday harassment and racialised low-intensity violence that goes on in and around the border. (Often with grotesque outcomes, the article mentions the case of actual French citizens made to “return” to Spain whilst travelling on the route because they didn’t have their papers.)
More importantly, though, it tells how these measures of supposed deterrence, whereby French police target and detain African migrants arbitrarily, are not only stretching EU communitarian rules but also have tragic, all-too-real consequences. The article mentions the story of a young Eritrean, Tessfit Temzide, who hung himself after being expelled by French police after crossing into Hendaye. Since 2021, there have been at least 10 other such deaths of migrants: those who drowned whilst trying to swim the Bidasoa, who committed suicide out of desperation or were run over whilst crossing train tracks. As stressed by different volunteers, migrants “will always cross”; it’s only a matter of when. If they can’t cross the pedestrian bridge in town or catch a bus, they will find other, more risky ways to reach France, which will put them in unnecessary danger.
Grassroots associations such as Irungo Harrera Sarea provide migrants with support. They tip them as to which way is best to cross, they assist them with seeking asylum. Increasingly though, faced with the French state’s unwillingness to provide “corredores seguros” (“safe pathways”) for migrants, they have turned to direct action and civil disobedience. The article concludes by telling us about a popular race that occurred on 14 March 2024, during which 36 migrants crossed into France surrounded by hundreds of supporting runners. Some of the organisers of this race are now facing up to five years in jail. The case is scheduled for October 2025.
They, too, have become the subjects of popular solidarity and support. This past April, 3,500 people demonstrated in front of a court in Bayonne, self-denouncing themselves as collaborators of the initiative and intoning Emile Zola’s J’accuse against EU’s “repressive and deadly migratory policies” whilst demanding “free and safe migration flows”.
Original article (“Pájaros nocturnos sobre el Bidasoa”) by Guillermo Rivas, with photography by Javi Julio, was published in Spanish on 1 May 2025.
It’s available here.
Revista 5W is a Spanish magazine known for its long-form, narrative journalism that blends reportage, photography and deep analysis. Revista 5W often focuses on global conflicts, migration, human rights and social movements, aiming to go beyond headlines to tell complex stories with nuance and empathy.
Summary by BS
