docUNight: Until He's Back

Join us for a docUNight in UN City Copenhagen featuring the documentary 'Until He’s Back' – a film capturing the plight of migrants along their dangerous journey across the Mediterranean Sea.

Through interweaving stories, the documentary offers a powerful window into the challenges that migrants face and the difficulty of returning the bodies of those who drown at sea.

Since 2014, the International Organization for Migration (IOM)’s Missing Migrants Project has registered at least 25,500 deaths and disappearances during the Mediterranean crossing, making the Central Mediterranean route the deadliest migration route in the world.

In the panel debate following the film screening, hear what experts from IOM, the UN Network on Migration, and the University of Copenhagen have to say about migration issues in the Mediterranean and how the international community can mobilise to save lives at sea.

Run time: 40 minutes

Language: Spanish and Arabic (with English subtitles)

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IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Please bring a valid photo-ID to get through security at UN City and set aside time for the security check prior to the event.

Please note that the check-in will open at 16:00 and close at 16:50. It will not be possible to enter UN City after this time.

Please DO NOT book tickets under your name for someone else – please reserve each ticket under each person's name due to the security check upon entry to UN City.

Refreshments (soft drinks and snacks) will be available for purchase between 16:00–17:00. Please note that it is not allowed to bring your own food to UN City with the exception of water bottles.

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Programme

16:00 Informal reception with refreshments

17:00 Welcome Remarks

17:10 Screening of 'Until He’s Back'

17:50 Interview with the film director

• Jacqueline Baylon – Director of 'Until He's Back'

18:15 Panel Discussion: 'Missing Migrants and Deaths in the Mediterranean Sea'

• Anja Simonsen – Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Copenhagen
• Julia Black – Senior Project Officer at IOM’s Global Migration Data Analysis Centre in Berlin
• Katherine Barwise – Senior Programme Manager in the Secretariat of the United Nations Network on Migration in Geneva
• moderated by Noa Valentin Katz Søgaard – Head of UN City Communications

19:00 End of event

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About the Film:

After learning that his son, Yahya, has died at sea trying to get to Spain, Ahmed Tchiche must find a way to bring his remains back to Morocco so that he and his family can have a proper goodbye. A Spanish mortician, an NGO worker, and an established Moroccan immigrant living in Spain all struggle to help Ahmed get his son's body home.

Through interweaving threads, 'Until He's Back' explores a dangerous journey across the Mediterranean and the difficulty of returning the bodies of those who drown at sea. In this story of grief and hope, a family and a community try to make sense of the tragedy that took Yahya away.

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About the Interview and Panel Discussion:

At least 8,938 people died on migration routes worldwide in 2024, making it the deadliest year on record, according to the latest data collected by IOM. Of those, 2,452 deaths were documented in the Mediterranean Sea. With a group of migration experts, the panel will analyse the dynamics & trends as well as the social & political consequences of the deaths of migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean on their way to Europe. We will delve into migration data, search and rescue in the Mediterranean, policy recommendations to save lives and more.

About Jacqueline Baylon:

Jacqueline is a Mexican filmmaker whose work focuses on human rights injustices and immigration stories from different corners of the world. She covers stories such as the accusations against Turkey for cutting water supplies in northeast Syria, the experiences of protesting as an undocumented immigrant in the United States, and the harrowing reality of the oxygen supply crisis in Peru during the pandemic. She has worked for news organisations across the U.S., including The New York Times. She currently produces and directs documentaries.

About Anja Simonsen:

Anja Simonsen is an Associate Professor at the University of Copenhagen, Department of Anthropology. She was awarded the Carlsberg Foundation Internationalisation Fellowship with the project 'The Criminalisation of Humanitarianism: From Volunteers to Human Smugglers in Italy'. From 2025 to 2029, Anja is working as Principal Investigator for the 'Social Life of Dead Bodies: A new ethnographic approach to migrant deaths in and around the Mediterranean Sea' (SOLID) funded by the European Research Council, exploring the social life of deceased migrants in and around the Mediterranean Sea by bringing together forensic, social, economic, humanitarian, and political actors and perspectives on the same unidentified bodies of deceased migrants.

About Julia Black:

Julia Black is a Project Officer at the International Organization for Migration (IOM), where she has coordinated the Missing Migrants Project for nearly a decade. Based at IOM’s data centre in Berlin, Julia has led work to build up the only public-access database on deaths and disappearances on migration routes worldwide. She is frequently cited in the media advocating for an end to migrant deaths through the provision of safe, legal routes for people on the move. More broadly, Julia’s work deals with irregular migration, migrant rights, and data collection on hard-to-reach populations.

About Katherine Barwise:

Katy Barwise is the Senior Programme Manager at the Secretariat of the United Nations Network on Migration (UNNM) in Geneva, where she is responsible for coordinating the capacity building mechanism of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM). In this role, she facilitates UN system-wide support to governments to action the GCM, working closely with governments, civil society, and other stakeholders.

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Special Exhibition:

From 2–13 June 2025, a symbolic and immersive installation will transform data from the Missing Migrants Project (MMP) into a powerful visual narrative at UN City Copenhagen, highlighting the urgent need for safe, regular migration. Using the power of art and data, the exhibition amplifies the voices of those lost to irregular migration, fostering a deeper emotional connection and encouraging decisive action to create safer migration pathways​ The installation features 5,500+ roses, each representing a missing migrant in 2024 (January–September). The roses are 3D printed from compostable bioplastic (PLA) and are colour-coded by region, representing the proportions of missing migrants from the 6 regions monitored by the MMP.

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About the Missing Migrants Project and the UN Network on Migration:

The International Organization for Migration (IOM)’s Missing Migrants Project tracks deaths of migrants, including refugees and asylum-seekers, who have gone missing along mixed migration routes worldwide. The research behind this project began with the October 2013 tragedies, when at least 368 individuals died in two shipwrecks near the Italian island of Lampedusa. Since then, the Missing Migrants Project has developed into an important hub and advocacy source of information that media, researchers, and the general public access for the latest information.

The United Nations Network on Migration (UNNM) supports Member States in the implementation, follow-up, and review of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. The Network has been established to ensure effective, timely, and coordinated system-wide support to Member States.

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About IOM:

Established in 1951, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is the leading intergovernmental organisation in the field of migration and is committed to the principle that humane and orderly migration benefits migrants and society.

IOM supports migrants across the world, developing effective responses to the shifting dynamics of migration and, as such, is a key source of advice on migration policy and practice. The organisation works in emergency situations, developing the resilience of all people on the move, and particularly those in situations of vulnerability, as well as building capacity within governments to manage all forms and impacts of mobility.

Denmark has been a member state of IOM since 1954. In 2024, the office became a Country Office for Partnership and Advocacy and a Coordination Function, leading IOM’s liaison and coordination with strategic partners in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. This enables IOM to strengthen collaboration with and between partners in the Nordic countries on areas of mutual interest and increase their knowledge and understanding of IOM’s strategies and work globally.

About UN City Copenhagen:

UN City Copenhagen is a hub for the Sustainable Development Goals. It comprises 2 campuses. Campus 1 on Marmormolen opened in July 2013 and today houses 10 UN organisations with 1,700+ staff members from 100+ different countries. Campus 2, located in the container port in the Northern Harbour of Copenhagen, constitutes UNICEF’s state-of-the-art high bay warehouse. With a total storage capacity of 36,000 pallets, it is the largest humanitarian warehouse in the world.

UN City has become a hub where agencies can collaborate, share knowledge, and work with experts from different fields.

Learn more about UN City Copenhagen.