SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the migrant’s journey in between the point of departure from the country of residence to arrival in the country of destination, highlighting the ways in which movement is rendered possible across the international legislative framework. It explores the potential routes open to migrants and emphasizes the qualitative difference between those who can embark on safe and legal means of migration and those whose movement is restricted to unsafe journeys. In so doing, it elucidates the circumstances that can be encountered by those in transit, outlining their vulnerability to human rights’ violations arising from their status as migrants. This is further explored by reference to the implications that the physical migration journey carries for the individual migrant. Finally, it emphasizes the need for the mental healthcare professional to elicit the migrant’s narrative of the physical journey and suggests the means through which mental healthcare interventions can contextualize their lived experience.