Privilege, injustice mulled in migration musings

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This article was published 02/03/2024 (964 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For many people, crossing a border is just a formality, a way of going from home to a holiday or from one meeting spot to another.

For migrants, however, borders can be impenetrable barriers between danger and safety. In A Map of Future Ruins, Lauren Markham explores concepts such as how origin stories shape societies, the injustices that many people face and how people treat borders and the migrants who cross over the invisible lines between countries.

Markham has worked with newcomers for 20 years and has written on topics related to migrants and other social issues in publications such as the New York Times Magazine, the Guardian and the New York Review of Books. She is the author of The Far Away Brothers: Two Young Migrants and the Making of an American Life. She lives in Berkeley, Calif.

The book begins with an account of the fire at the Moria refugee camp in Greece. Throughout the book, the author returns frequently to the story, relating the progression of the investigation and the eventual arrest and conviction of several Afghan youths. As the author notes, authorities had no proof of the charges, but rather stereotyped the young men as the kinds of people who were likely to commit such a crime.

As Markham notes, many people in Europe and elsewhere who were initially welcoming towards refugees increasingly began to see migration itself as a crime. She explores the ideas of nationality and borders as essentially artificial, randomly dividing people into groups that often have little relation to culture or language. These divisions have caused many of the political problems that the world is experiencing today, she notes.

The author explains the deeply rooted idea among many westerners that ancient Greek civilization was the ancestor of their own cultures. As she describes trips that she and her husband took to Greece, she reflects on the people she met who have no way of leaving their current situation. Meanwhile, she considers the significance of her own Greek heritage in relation to her privileged position as an American with the ability to travel wherever she wants.

Privilege and injustice are themes Markham explores as she discusses how the richer northern countries in Europe began sealing their borders, even as the flow of refugees continued. Meanwhile, poorer countries such as Greece and Italy took the brunt of the responsibility for welcoming refugees into their lands. Eventually, they also began turning refugees away, sometimes even puncturing inflatable rafts that floated in the Mediterranean with refugees on board.

The fences and walls that people put up were sometimes physical, such as the wall dividing Norway from Russia. At other times the walls are psychological, as evidenced by a pushback against refugees that began to grow both in Europe and elsewhere. The book ends with a reflection on the author’s role in reporting her own family’s story.

A Map of Future Ruins is well researched and engaging, with many concrete examples that help illustrate the points Markham is making. Some of the stories are quite disturbing, especially as the author describes the pushback against refugees. However, the book contains valuable insights into the issues that migrants and the people who take care of them are facing. Readers looking for greater understanding of the issues of borders, belonging and the plight of refugees will find A Map of Future Ruins engaging.

Susan Huebert is a Winnipeg writer and dog walker.