Migrant Mind

Parramatta: A Dictionary of Place and Memory - M

The circumstances in which a person migrates make a difference to the experience and nature of their migration.

Not all migrations are equal.

There is the person who moves overseas for love or work. Their pocket is full and there is no life-threatening urgency at their back.

Then there is the migration with borrowed money, a small suitcase or else risking one’s life on a boat.

There is migration due to conflict and getting out at all costs.

I hear so many people in the community say a version of this single line.

I was going overseas for a year, I was going to save some money and then it was my intention to return.

Ten, twenty, thirty, forty years later, we are waiting for the situation to settle and still here we are.

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