Uncertain Belongings: Absent Mourning, Burial, and Post-mortem Repatriations at the External Border of the EU in Spain

Border Deaths

“…A funeral with a body is in contrast to mourning someone without one. In the absence of a body, mourning becomes extremely difficult if not impossible (Boss 2004;Wagner 2008;Rosenblatt 2015;Perl 2016). While attempting to cross the Mediterranean and other borders globally, thousands of migrants have died in recent years.…”

Mourning Missing Migrants

“…As a result, families of the missing are trapped between hope and despair, seeking an answer but fearing it will be the worst answer and consumed by not knowing; not knowing whether to await a phone call or a letter, or to presume their loved one is gone for ever (Boss 2004;Robins 2010). Whilst the missing can be remembered and commemorated, as long as their fate is not known they cannot be mourned and their relatives may struggle to go on with life (Perl 2016). Border deaths are a tragedy amplified by the social relations in which those who die are embedded.…”

“…A funeral with a body is in contrast to mourning someone without one. In the absence of a body, mourning becomes extremely difficult if not impossible (Boss 2004;Wagner 2008;Rosenblatt 2015;Perl 2016).…”

Accueillir les morts

“…Les dernières paroles de cet extrait expriment la douleur des proches des noyés n'ayant jamais été retrouvés, devant faire un deuil malgré l'absence du corps de leur parent défunt, retenu par la mer et donc privé d'inhumation (Perl 2016). Pour autant, même dans le cas des corps identifiés et rendus à leur famille -ce qui ne s'est jamais reproduit pour les autres migrants morts en Méditerranée -, les témoignages de certains des survivants et des parents endeuillés que nous avons rencontrés en Albanie en 2019 montrent que cela ne les a pas non plus aidés à faire ce travail de deuil.…”