The Sea is the Limit. We Need to Talk about Migration
Chpt 15
by Varvara Shavrova
[...] Migration is not a condition we choose to adopt, and it is often imposed on us. It is an emergency, a scenario that cannot be avoided, an upheaval to endure, a critical situation. Migration is a temporary narrative we adopt to move away from violence, trauma, conflict, and disadvantage, toward a supposedly safer and more peaceful environment than the one we have left behind. The state of migration is supposed to be a transitory, temporary event. Yet for most of us who have experienced the upheaval of migration, or immigration, it rarely ends once the destination has been reached. In fact, once the actual act of migrating is complete, the post- migrant condition becomes a new reality for the migrant. The traumatic experience of leaving one’s homeland behind rarely, if ever, fades away. [...]