“Today, no walls can separate humanitarian or human rights crises in one part of the world from national security crises in another. What begins with the failure to uphold the dignity of one life all too often ends with a calamity for entire nations.” – Kofi Annan
There are many ailments facing us both internationally and domestically; however, I feel one of the most important issues is that of forced migration. The challenge of the current and upcoming generations will be how to best address and mitigate both forced migration and its wide-reaching impacts. Human trafficking, slavery, inadequate medical attention, labor abuse, female oppression, extreme poverty, and scarce educational opportunities are some of the difficulties facing most forced migrants. Although the experiences of different types of forced migrants might be similar, the group as a whole is far from homogenous. There are myriad intricacies of the experiences faced by forced migrants that are not adequately understood. As a doctoral student at George Mason University’s School of Policy, Government, and International Affairs, I work to shed light on these experiences and expand the research available to practitioners.