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Trajectories of Colombian Migrants in Europe

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International Migration, Transnational Politics and Conflict

Part of the book series: Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship ((MDC))

Abstract

This chapter introduces readers to the heterogeneity of Colombian migration, focusing on the experiences of labour migrants, students and professional flows and family migration. The author presents the stories of migrants arriving in the UK, Spain and Belgium from the 1970s up until our days. As well as representing a variety of experiences, differences between men and women based on social background are explored. Migrant destinations are chosen based on networks, information available and conditions of entry and settlement, with many migrants experiencing more than one or multiple migrations before their final destination. These mobilities have helped diversify personal, social and economic transnational links, maintained not only with the home country but also between different migrant communities within Europe and beyond.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Percentages of interviewees selecting these as their main or additional reasons for migrating.

  2. 2.

    All names used throughout the book to refer to respondents who participated in the research are pseudonyms. The real names or institutional details of some key informants are given occasionally, but only when it is necessary and with their permission.

  3. 3.

    The expression ‘pintar pajaritos en el aire’ (literally ‘paint birds in the air’) means to present things in a very nice way, probably hiding away the negative aspects.

  4. 4.

    It is important to keep in mind that the samples for each survey were different.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CEDEM, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium

    Anastasia Bermudez

  2. Department of Social Anthropology, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain

    Anastasia Bermudez

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  1. Anastasia Bermudez
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Bermudez, A. (2016). Trajectories of Colombian Migrants in Europe. In: International Migration, Transnational Politics and Conflict. Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53197-1_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53197-1_4

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-53196-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-53197-1

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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