Migration, community and belonging By Clement Dachet Clement Dachet, der er nigeriansk migrant i Danmark, beskriver i denne artikel ud fra sine personlige erfaringer de vanskeligheder, der er forbundet med at forlade sin egen kultur og søge efter at høre til i en anden, fremmed kultur. Kulturmødet udfordrer både identitet, selvopfattelse og værdighed hos den tilkommende, men også den modtagende part må vælge at være villig til at lide et tab, for at skabe plads for den “anden” – uanset om det drejer sig om samfund, ægteskab eller kirke. Dachet ser ikke i alle tilfælde multikulturelle menigheder som et ideal, men opfordrer til med empati og gæstfrihed at skabe rum for migranter.
A migrating
ly cautious of the varying experiences
Migration is as old as man himself and
conditioned on the class of migration.
people migrate for all sorts of rea-
For example, one who migrates for ed-
sons, either forced or by free will. For
ucational purpose, the reality is that
example, in Denmark, immigrants are
it is often within a specified period
represented in different categories
which invariably determine the extent
that highlight their purposes of being
of self-investment into the host socie-
in Denmark. The categories are migra-
ty. On the other hand, the person who
tion by asylum status, migration for
was forced to migrate as a refugee or
education, economic migration, migra-
in inter-nation marriage cases often
tion due to reunification with family
knows that it might be for a lifetime.
and lastly but not least, migration for
Without doubt, it places some form of
tourism. Each of these categories often
a lifetime commitment, to invest them-
underlines, to a great extent, the very
selves in their newfound life in another
condition migrants find themselves in
country. The conditions for migrants,
within their host countries.
by class or type of migration, are not
Therefore, it is possible to talk broadly about the shared elements within migration experiences that relate to all migrating people but to be equal-
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to assume that those who migrate for a limited duration of time do not experience the challenges of moving into a new culture such as culture shocks, stress and the need to adjust to culture
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