Licia Calcagno

My name is Licia Calcagno. I studied for an MA in Advanced Migration Studies at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark and applied fo this internship with SIHMA to fulfil my study requirements. I was thrilled to have this opportunity because I believed, and I still do, that European institutions focus a lot on migration towards Europe while they tend to disregard migration flows in the rest of the world, especially South-South migration. 

Thanks to my internship with SIHMA, I was able to learn more about migration flows within Africa. I mainly helped looking for data and writing reports for different stakeholders. This task allowed me to learn about South African migration policies, asylum and refugee policies adn general African migration issues. SIHMA aims at conducting research throughout the African continent. The aim is vast, which means that there is always something new to learn. I was very happy to be able to contribute to the creation of the African Atlas of Migration because it made me realize the vastness of this beautiful continent. 

My studies in migration helped me to give a structure to the countries migration profile while the task in itself provided me with alot of new migration information. I really enjoyed acquiring all this new information, and I also loved being able to support the Scalabrini Centre's English School in some of its activities. In these occasions, I was able to be in direct contact with asylum seekers and refugees. Getting to know migrants in South Africa further supported my idea that the study of human mobility is essential in order to support and help people who are in need of protection or who simply try to build a better life for themselves and their families. 

Overall, I am very grateful for this experience and would not hesitate to repeat it again. 

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