Where is home? My dream is to shape a world where the answer to that question is everywhere. In other words, a world where everyone can answer “My home is here.” In a world where one person is forcibly displaced roughly every two seconds due to conflict and general human rights violations, integration—or belonging—has become one of humanity’s most relevant issues.
Integration sometimes seems complicated and distant, even to me, a Venezuelan migrant who has been in Colombia for more than six years. More than five million Venezuelans fled the country in the last five years due to its political, economic, and social crises. In many cases, Venezuelan migrants and refugees are warmly received by host communities that are eager to make them feel at home. In other cases, outbreaks of xenophobia and hate speech spring up. Xenophobia makes you feel as if you are wrong just for being who you are.
The way communities welcome migrants and refugees has a significant impact on their integration process and our shared success. In my case, I was welcomed and given the opportunity to dream and create. It helped me to be where I am today. I was able to create a home with my siblings here.
We are all different, and diversity is the biggest asset we have as humankind. There is no need to be afraid of being different. The way in which each one decides to welcome migrants and refugees in our communities makes a change. So how to better welcome them? That is not a question I can answer, but rather it is a question that all of us have to answer through concrete actions.
Integration does not happen by magic; there are actions and public policies all through that process. Since 2018, I’ve been a part of a social platform called The Right to Disobey. The platform has helped more than 7,500 Venezuelan migrants and refugees integrate into nine cities in Latin America through art, cultural projects, conversation spaces, and communication strategies aimed at reducing discrimination.
My voice as a migrant will join many other voices who continue to dream about a home that covers the entire earth. Having the opportunity to feel at home everywhere is a human right. So, stand up, and let’s fight for it!