Stories of movement

 By Janifer Yasmin The Journey Before the Sea Fatima was 19 when she packed her bag and left her home in Sudan. She left because war had turned her city into ruins. Families around her were killed. Her brother had disappeared. The only direction she saw was forward  toward somewhere safe. Somewhere called “Europe.” But long before the Mediterranean Sea ever appeared on her horizon, Libya became her prison. Fatima was detained at a checkpoint near the outskirts of Tripoli. She was told to pay a bribe. When she couldn’t, guards took her to a detention centre a place surrounded by barbed wire, where men, women, and children lived in overcrowded rooms, lacking food, water, and medicine. She had not even started the sea crossing yet. For thousands of refugees like Fatima, the journey does not begin with a deadly sea. It begins in Libya and for many, it ends there.  OCCRP Libya: A Transit Country That Became a Dead End Libya has long been a transit country in North Africa ...

 Written by Janifer Yasmin Dawn breaks slowly over the hills of Manipur and Mizoram. As the mist lifts from the valleys, the border between India and Myanmar begins to wake not with soldiers or barbed wire, but with footsteps. Women carrying baskets, children in school uniforms, traders with worn-out bags, refugees seeking safety… they all move along narrow paths that zigzag across a line drawn long ago on someone else’s map. On paper, the Indo–Myanmar border is an international boundary stretching nearly 1,643 kilometres. But in the everyday lives of the people here, it is a space that breathes, opens, and moves. A Line That Cut, But Never Divided Before the British ever imagined a border, the hills had their own geography. Villages of Chin, Mizo, Kuki, Zou, and other related tribes stretched naturally across what are today two countries. Families shared bloodlines, foods, songs, and rituals. When colonial rulers drew the boundary, it divided lands but never the hearts or identit...

Written by Janifer Yasmin. She is a writer and researcher interested about migration, displacement, and human stories behind global movements. She is pursuing a Master’s in Migration and Diaspora Studies at IGNOU and runs the blog Stories of Movement, where she explores how borders, policies, and personal journeys intersect. Her work sheds light on the lived realities of migrants and refugees — turning statistics into stories that speak of courage, loss, and hope.  “I had to cross the sea because I want to live.” — A survivor speaking in the report In Search of Safe Haven, published by Human Rights at Sea in partnership with SOS Méditerranée, about the dangers of the central Mediterranean route from Libya. Human Rights at Sea Every year, people leave homes, families and futures to board fragile boats across the Mediterranean hoping for safety, work, or a new start. Many make it; too many do not. The sea has become a corridor of desperation — and a place where Europe’s migration pol...

France: Europe’s Oldest Country of Immigration When we think of immigration in Europe today, heated debates and political controversies quickly come to mind. But long before immigration became a “hot topic,” France had already carved out its unique place as Europe’s oldest country of immigration. From the early 19th century, France stood apart. While other European nations saw waves of their citizens leaving for the New World—chasing opportunities in the Americas, Australia, or New Zealand—most French people chose to stay put. Apart from small pockets of migration (like the Barcelonnette merchants who ventured all the way to Mexico), France’s outward migration remained surprisingly low. Even French colonial territories, such as Algeria, did not attract large numbers of settlers in those days. Instead, France became the opposite of its neighbors: a country that imported people rather than exported them. Industrial growth between 1850 and 1914 demanded more labor than the French popul...

 Calais jungle known as the "camp de la land" located in vicinity of Calais  France was a refugee and immigrant encampment existed from 2015 - 2016. For years, makeshift settlements known as “jungles” had appeared and vanished in the shadows of Calais. But in 2015—at the height of the European migrant crisis—one shanty town swelled into a sprawling, chaotic city of hope and despair. Its population surged overnight, drawing the unblinking gaze of the world’s media. Here, under the ragged roofs of tarpaulin and scrap wood, migrants clung to the edge of Europe—some daring to dream of slipping across the Channel to the United Kingdom, others trapped in the slow, uncertain wait for their French asylum claims to be heard. On the windswept edge of Calais, where once only a landfill lay forgotten, a new city was born—not of concrete and steel, but of tarpaulin, timber, and human will. By July 2015, three thousand souls had gathered here, their numbers swelling with each passing week....

As a student of migration and diaspora studies, I reflect on how global mobility is changing in today’s world.  Migration is one of the most pressing global issues today. Every year, millions of people move across borders—for work, education, safety, or family reasons. But what often gets overlooked is how complex their identities are. Migrants are not always one thing—they might start as students, become workers, or even seek asylum later. In today’s globalized world, the factors driving migration and the shifting nature of migrant categories deserve deeper attention. In today’s globalized world, several interconnected factors shape the movement of people across borders. While passport access has expanded in many developing countries, restrictive visa policies in wealthier nations often control who can actually enter—making mobility uneven. The rise of global media and communication technologies has exposed people to new opportunities, lifestyles, and migration pathways, increasin...