As you read through the book, we hope that you will be able to reflect on some of the ways our stories challenge the dominant narratives around forced migrants, particularly those who eventually make their way to Europe or North America.

As a first learning objective, identify at least three ways that our experiences have been shaped by social structures, including laws and policies, as well as conflict, economics, and history.

But our stories have also shown that migrants are not just passive victims of these structures—describe how we have negotiated, challenged, been defeated by, or overcome these structures.

All the authors here have experienced different migrant statuses, whether refugee, student, labour migrant, highly skilled migrant, or undocumented migrant. Critically examine the different categories into which migrants are forced, and the value and limitations of categories for those who construct them and the people to whom they are applied.

The experiences of the authors here demonstrate how racism has been interwoven into every stage of our lives, and how each different experience of forced migration exposed us to a new variation of hostility, whether based on our physical being, our perceived religion, our accent and culture, or our migration status. Articulate what you have learned about the processes of racialisation, and the link between migration and racism.

Policy is largely shaped by the three accepted durable solutions in relation to forced migrants: return, resettlement, or integration into the host community, and these describe the outcomes for many people, but do not represent a solution for all forced migrants or only following prolonged periods where none apply. Critically reflect on some of the problematic assumptions underpinning these solutions.

This book is part of a series on forced migration, and details the migrations forced upon all four of us. While inevitably, we did make choices and shaped our migration to an extent, it was definitely not freely or lightly chosen—it was often a reaction to negative events and forces. And yet, we have made the best of our experiences. Drawing on the stories below, describe the costs and benefits to migrants of migrating.