Migrant communities and uncertainty in times of crisis

For migrants and travellers, online communities are a good place to find information about the countries or cities they are evaluating to go to: visas, costs, jobs, and the experiences of other people who have gone before.

However, people are asking not for information, but for advice about their specific situation.

-V., 39. “Me and my husband are planning to go to Australia with our kids, how can we do that? Can I find a job with a tourist visa? Am I too old to get a permanent residence?

-M., 28. “I am in France with a WH visa and I have a possibility of getting a permanent residence, although it is not sure. Me and my boyfriend have the grant for Ireland, starting in September this year. What should we do?”

-C., 19. “I am in the north of Spain, I came by myself. I made a wrong decision, and I am running out of money. To which city can I go? I need to get a job asap”.

Uncertainty is part of life in times of crisis, and much more for those whose possibility to exist in a place depends on law, with the tyranny of age looming over our heads.

The question about what to do

“What to do”, was a book in my dad´s library when I was a reader child looking at the titles: a treatise by Vladimir Lenin about the need to create a revolutionary party to organise the working class. As urgent as this one, the question of the migrants is more related to the survival of the individual. We, the migrants, live with that question -at least at this stage where nothing is certain yet. Where can I go? Will I be able to stay where I am? If I can´t stay, where am I going after?

Facing the end of the visa is to anticipate a second banishment. Little by little, you create bonds with the land you inhabit, its idiosyncracy, and its language; being an Argentinian adds the plus of watching through media how your country is being destroyed. President Javier Milei prides himself on applying “chainsaw” and “blender” to public policies and employment, while persecution of social activists and human rights violations grow.

The history of migration shapes the world. Leaving and being far away breaks a delicate balance where returning to the country of origin gradually ceases to be an option. The good part is that potential never dies and waits patiently for fertile soil to blossom.