Day 151
I got to meet David Miliband, CEO of the IRC today! Next week on March 3rd will mark 3 years since I started my first big girl job with IRC - about the same time that he started with IRC as well. In many ways I’m glad my first job was with them. I wouldn’t be studying or working with migration otherwise because I wouldn’t have known this whole world. It was great to finally meet him, kinda tying this whole symbolic work anniversary. I remember when he first started, he implemented Salesforce Chatter to all IRC staff worldwide and would post weekly questions about the greater refugee work, in an attempt to engage us to think bigger about our roles. It was pretty cool to have a leader that wanted to engage and interact with all of us. I’m not sure if it’s still in use today.
Needless to say, he sorta had a celebrity role amongst all the staff as well. Today I got to hear him first hand. And it’s quite obvious that he’s an Oxford grad and a politician. Quite hard to believe it was his first time back since he left about thirty years ago. He was all about democracy and listening to students’ opinions. Very good at appearing to be answering questions despite not really answering them (which to give him the benefit of the doubt, is difficult to answer in a limited time).
However, I didn’t agree when he insisted on drawing the distinction between refugees and other migrants. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to clearly differentiate between types of migrants. Thus, rise of the term mixed migratory flows. This is also partly related to why I left IRC. I don’t agree that refugees are more vulnerable than other migrants, and therefore have more right and need to protection. While this is not explicitly stated, but it seems like a silent agreement, justifying our romanticized savior complex. For many migrants, the recognition as a refugee is life and death (a the thin line that is defined by an old agreement). People should not need to justify their right to migrate.
So here I am three years after IRC, still trying to find my role in a weird place where many migrants are seen at the bottom of the society: unwanted, save for maybe a few who can prove they cannot return and/or have useful skills.