They do not want to close the file of the terrible accident which led to the death of three migrants on October 12, 2021 on a railway line in Ciboure (Pyrenees-Atlantiques). A survivor and relatives of the victims have just filed a new complaint with civil action with an investigating judge at the Bayonne court to denounce “the locking of the borders which makes exiles take reckless risks”, specifies their lawyer. Gabriel Lassort. On the day of the tragedy, around 5 a.m., four Algerians were caught by a TER train as they walked along the rails in order to escape possible police checks, several kilometers after crossing the Franco-Spanish border. Three of them died instantly, the fourth being seriously injured.
A first complaint, targeting a smuggler who allegedly drugged the victims, was dismissed last year, for lack of convincing toxicological analyses. At the time of the accident, the victims had been lying down to rest from their night walk and would not have heard the train arrive.
This second complaint calls into question the “irregular restoration of controls at the internal borders of France” and the action of the police who “can only ignore by constantly reinforcing the physical obstacles to the movement of people (… ) they contribute directly, mechanically, to the multiplication of serious accidents and deaths”, explains Gabriel Lassort. For the lawyer, the drama of Ciboure stems directly from this policy: “The exiles take absolute risks to try to pass. As proof, the day before, two of the victims had already tried their luck otherwise and had been turned away. »
At least 12 dead in two years in this area
In the Basque Country, three border crossing points have been closed since 2021, including a pedestrian bridge in Hendaye, to “fight against illegal immigration and the terrorist threat”. Associations helping migrants protest against this “omnipresence of the police”. In a report published in Mayseveral NGOs, including Amnesty International and Doctors of the World, count “at least 12” deaths in 2021 and 2022 in the area, including five migrants who drowned after trying to cross the Bidassoa, the border river of the Basque Country.