Hold on to her

Robin Vanbesien's 'hold on to her' traces a lived social infrastructure of care, solidarity and  struggle that addresses a recent case of police and state violence in the context of migration  border control in Belgium.

Mawda Shawri, two years old in 2018, daughter of Phrast and Shamden, sister of Hama,  was shot dead by a Belgian police officer during a migration border control on a central  highway.  

In 2023, over 40 people, both undocumented and documented resident activists, assembled  before the camera at La Voix des sans papiers in Brussels to stage a collective hearing of  documents from and reactions to Mawda’s case.  

A ghostly haunting is acknowledged, caused by police impunity and lack of accountability of  the state. In their refusal of such a shortage of truth and human rights the activists feel the  need to explore beyond the official narratives. They produce the counter-evidence of this  deadly crossing, and they practice justice as a sensuous social space for collective mourning  and healing. Faced with the inability to proceed within the dominant frameworks, this hearing  challenges what is visible and audible, foregrounding the opaque and the poetic.