On 6 February, families, friends, and solidarity groups gathered to mark the World Day of Commemoration and Action, honouring people who have died or disappeared due to state violence along migration routes and within local communities.
The date recalls the events of 6 February 2014, when more than 200 people attempted to reach Tarajal beach in Ceuta from the Moroccan coast. Spanish Guardia Civil officers used anti-riot equipment to stop them from reaching shore while Moroccan forces looked on. Fifteen bodies were recovered on the Spanish side, dozens more disappeared, and survivors were returned, with additional deaths reported on the Moroccan side.
CommemorActions combine remembrance and protest, supporting families seeking truth, justice, and recognition for their loved ones. Each year, events are held worldwide to denounce deaths, disappearances, and trauma linked to migration policies and state violence.
Website – https://commemoraction.net/
Video-clip – (CommemorAction during the Transborder Sumer Camp in August 2025) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWxy4XVGUhg
Speech from Salahadine Juma (Refugees in Libya)
“Ladies and gentlemen, friends, allies, sisters and brothers,
We gather here today in Paris not only to commemorate, but also to bear witness.
We stand together to remember lives that were lost, voices that were silenced, and journeys that were never allowed to reach safety.
I speak today as a member of Refugees in Libya organization, but also as someone who carries stories that cannot be erased by borders, detention centers, or the sea.
Libya is not just a place on the map.
For thousands of refugees and migrants, it has become a place of fear, a place where human dignity is routinely denied. Men, women, and children are detained, abused, sold, exploited, and forgotten. Many never make it out alive. Many disappear without names, without graves, without justice.
Today, we remember them.
We remember those who died in detention centers.
Those who drowned in the Mediterranean while searching for safety.
Those whose only “crime” was to hope for a life free from violence, poverty, or persecution.
Commemoration is not only about the past.
It is also about responsibility our responsibility today.
Europe cannot continue to look away.
Outsourcing borders must not mean outsourcing humanity.
Policies that trap people in places of suffering must be named for what they are: violations of human rights.
As refugees, we are often spoken about, but rarely listened to.
So let me say this clearly:
We do not ask for pity.
We ask for dignity.
We ask for protection.
We ask for safe and legal pathways.
And we ask that our lives be valued equally.
Paris is a city of human rights, of revolution, of solidarity. Standing here today carries meaning. It reminds us that change is possible when people refuse to stay silent.
To our allies and supporters: thank you for standing with us. Your presence matters more than you know.
To policymakers who may hear our voices today: remember that history will judge the choices you make now.
And to those we commemorate: we promise you this you are not forgotten.
We carry your memory with us.
And we will continue to speak, to resist, and to demand justice until no one is forced to suffer in silence, and no life is treated as disposable.
Thank you.”
