A experiência de ser migrante em situação de refúgio: pelas fronteiras da geograficidade

Abstract

This work is a reflection, based on a phenomenological perspective, on how is to be a migrant in a situation of refuge from a gaze that seeks to unveil the relationship between the nation-state and the existence, which is crossed by the issues of identity and difference, the self and the other, familiarity and strangeness. The notion of geographicality is important to understand the transformation of the relationship with the homeland, the decision-making to leave, the crossing, the relationship with the place of destination and the new transnational relations. From the dialogue with authors such as Martin Heidegger, Eric Dardel, Eduardo Marandola Júnior and Angelo Serpa, among other important scholars to understand the relationship between phenomenology and Geography, it was necessary to go beyond and seek in interdisciplinarity some explanations for the phenomenon studied. Thus, authors from the fields of philosophy, sociology, anthropology, law, psychoanalysis, among other areas, proved necessary in this dialogue throughout the research and writing process. The analysis of the theme occurs mainly from the life stories told in interviews conducted in the field research in the cities of São Paulo and Salvador. After the covid-19 pandemic it was inserted some analyses based on projects carried out by the Immigration Museum of São Paulo, which kindly provided material for this research, in addition to other projects that had their material made available on digital social networks. As some of the results obtained and reflections carried out, it is possible to mention that an important aspect observed was the need to rethink not only the definition, but also the use of the term refugee with people who perceive themselves as stigmatized by the continuous reference to the term in their daily lives. It was also necessary to make an analysis between the decision to leave and fear as an affection that is felt on the scale of the body and its motivations, ranging from the family scale to the national one, such as fear of state institutions. Another issue that arose was the experience of crossing the boundaries of borders and the fact that the border follows the migrant in a situation of refuge wherever s/he goes, from a transience that manifests itself as different forms of borders in the relations of identity and otherness along his trajectory. Finally, the reflections brought up questions ranging from the first contact with unknown people and with host institutions, which often come to define their trajectories, through the relationship with the Portuguese language, the issues related to the document, which reveal themselves as accesses and barriers, including for documented people and, finally, the cracks that open, especially in family relationships, and the bridges that are being built throughout the process of familiarization at the place of destination.