The Darien Gap

In this video by the PBS NewsHour, PBS correspondent Nadja Drost and videographer Bruno Federico accompany migrants on the perilous journey through the Darien Gap. The 66-mile jungle tests the mental and physical strength of all who dare to cross it, wounding many and entrapping others never to be seen again.

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Financial Journeys

This video sheds light on how refugees and migrants finance their journeys and how they manage their money while en route. The information draws on Fletcher research in Latin America, the Mediterranean and the Middle East and Africa.

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Reasons, Routes and Costs

This video traces the reasons people leave their country of origin, some of the routes they travel, and the costs of the journey. The information draws on Fletcher research in Latin America, the Mediterranean and the Middle East and Africa.

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The Other Migration, Part 1: Who and Why

As countries across the globe crack down on immigration, migrants and refugees are forced to uncover new travel routes in search of safety and stability. The Other Migration examines the journey of migrants from Africa and Asia as they travel across the world to South America and up through Central America. Part one of this three-part series examines who is traveling on this migration route and why.

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The Other Migration, Part 2: Journey Through the Darién Gap

Migrants and refugees who have fled to South America may attempt to travel up through Central America in search of safety and stability in the US or Canada. This journey involves crossing one of the world’s most dangerous jungles: The Darién Gap, along the border of Colombia and Panama. In part two of this three-part series, learn about this perilous leg of the migration journey.

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The Other Migration, Part 3: Financial Journey of Refugees

Money can reveal new and important aspects of the migration journey. In part three of this three-part series, learn what finances can tell us as migrants and refugees save, spend, and try to maintain money traveling from around the world, to South America, and up through Central America in a perilous migration route.

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No Sweat – If You Are a Woman

By Madison Chapman, under the supervision of Kim Wilson. What does it mean to have dignity and personal agency as a migrant? Men and women told their stories to me in very distinct ways, through body language and in their retelling of traumatic events. What does this tell us about understanding gender in ethnographic research and the stories we do and do not hear while interviewing?

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You and I Are Not Friends: The Challenges of Ethnographic Study in the Migration Field

By Padmini Baruah, under the supervision of Kim Wilson. Transnational migration has been one of the most talked-about phenomena of the past decade. With prolonged armed conflict, economic crises, and climate change affecting different parts of the world adversely, it is not a surprise that an estimated 258 million people live in a country that is not the country of their birth.1 Much news has been generated on this subject, and multiple studies have focused on the macro aspects of this issue. However, equally vital is not losing sight of the fact that while broad patterns and theories can explain the macrophenomenon of transnational migration, each migrant’s story is ultimately a subjective and entirely personal lived experience. The powerful contribution of the individual narrative as well as of ethnographic observations to academic studies in this field cannot be overlooked.

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The Other Migration: The Financial Journeys of Asians and Africans Traveling Through the Americas

By Kim Wilson et al.

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