World day of action against the border death regime and to demand truth,justice, and reparations for migration victims and their families.
On February 6,2024, a major transnational mobilization marked the 10th anniversary of Commemor-Action. On February 6, 2025, we aim to further amplify this mobilization in support of the families of those who have died or disappeared during migration.
On February 6, 2014, more than 200 people departed from the Moroccan coast and attempted to swim to the Tarajal beach in the Spanish colonial enclave of Ceuta. To prevent them from reaching “Spanish soil,” the Guardia Civil used riot control equipment, while Moroccan soldiers stood by, allowing people to drown in front of them. Fifteen bodies were recovered on the Spanish side, dozens more went missing, and the survivors were pushed back, some of whom perished on the Moroccan side.
For more than thirty years, the direct or indirect violence of border regimes has continued to cause death and disappearances along migratory routes. Shipwrecks occur in succession, often marked by the lack of assistance and, at times, the active involvement of coast guards and Frontex. The number of people disappearing without a trace, either at sea or in the desert, keeps increasing. Meanwhile, efforts by authorities to search for and identify bodies are often hasty and fail to involve the families affected by these losses.
For more than thirty years, families and loved ones, associations, and all those fighting for equal mobility rights have continuously demanded truth and justice for these victims. They have highlighted the responsibilities of racist migration policies, worked to expose these responsibilities, and supported families and loved ones in their painful search for the missing and identification of victims.
Starting in 2024, the Commemor-Action network launched a website to compile mobilizations held annually on February 6. The platform also aims to highlight the collective, coordinated, and shared dimensions of these actions. These mobilizations reflect the unwavering commitment of associations, collectives, and, above all, families seeking truth and justice.
We call on all social and political organizations, secular and religious groups, victim families’ collectives, and citizens worldwide to organize protest and awareness-raising actions on February 6, 2025.
We invite you to use the logo above, alongside your own logos, as a symbol of the connection between all the different initiatives. Please share information about your initiatives with us (preferably before February 6) to help make the collective mobilization visible through the Commemor-Action website.
To endorse this call, you can write to:
Email: globalcommemoraction@gmail.com
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/330380128977418/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100076223537693
Past Commemor-Action Page: https://missingattheborders.org/news
Migrate to live, not to die! They are people, not numbers!
Freedom of movement for all!
WHO ARE WE?
We are parents, friends, and loved ones of individuals who have died, gone missing, or become victims of enforced disappearances along land or sea borders in Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
We are people who have survived attempts to cross borders in search of a better future.
We are supportive citizens who assist migrants during their journeys by providing medical aid, food, clothing, and support when they face life-threatening situations, helping them reach safety.
We are activists who have collected the voices of these migrants before their disappearance, worked to identify unidentified bodies in border regions, and ensured they receive a dignified burial.
We are a large family without borders or nationalities, a family that fights against the death regimes imposed at all borders worldwide and advocates for the right to migrate, freedom of movement, and global justice for all.
WHAT ARE COMMEMORACTIONS?
Since the Tarajal massacre, CommemorActions aim to amplify demands, end the denial of justice, honor all victims of a dangerous and immoral border regime, and remember their names beyond the dehumanizing numbers, which fall far short of reality. They also seek to highlight the many individuals who disappear anonymously.
CommemorActions are acts of remembrance for migrants who have died, gone missing, or become victims of enforced disappearances during their journeys across the world’s borders.
This process was born out of collaboration between the friends and families of those who went missing, particularly in the Mediterranean, and activists who collect testimonies and amplify their demands. This collaboration was strengthened through the creation of the website Missing at the Borders, which aims to give a voice to the families of migrants and an opportunity to share their stories.
CommemorActions are both commemorations and protests that aim to collectively build processes supporting families in their quest for truth and justice regarding the fate of their loved ones.
THE COMMEMORACTION PROCESS
The CommemorAction process consists of two events:
DECENTRALIZED COMMEMORACTIONS
GRAND COMMEMORACTIONS
We chose February 6, the anniversary of the Tarajal massacre, as a symbolic date to organize annual decentralized CommemorActions in countries worldwide. This date serves to unify the many struggles that organizations undertake daily to denounce the deadly violence of global border regimes and demand truth, justice, and reparations for migration victims and their families.
In February 2020, families and activists gathered in Oujda, Morocco, to organize the first Grand CommemorAction. The second was held on September 6, 2022, in Zarzis, Tunisia, to continue building the international network of relatives of deceased, missing, and forcibly disappeared migrants and to strengthen the fight for freedom of movement for all.
The Grand CommemorActions take place every two years on September 6, the anniversary of the 2012 shipwreck near Lampedusa, where more than 50 people went missing.
