At the core of violence lies emotional rupture, not only when harm is inflicted intentionally, but also when life is interrupted by forces beyond one’s control. Forced displacement is one such rupture. It does not simply change location; it reshapes identity, possibility, and the nervous system itself. For those who leave home under threat, hunger, or despair, exile is not a chapter that closes. It becomes a psychological terrain carried within the body and mind.

This journey, shaped by necessity, loss, and instability, reveals an emotional cost that often remains invisible in public discourse. Understanding that cost requires attention not only to trauma and survival, but to how belonging, dignity, and identity fracture under threat and xenophobia. The stories of José, Martha, and Andrés offer a window into this lived reality of exile across borders, terrain, and sea.

José left Venezuela with his younger brother shortly after their father died and the local clinic closed permanently. They walked through dusty hills toward Colombia, crossing dry creeks and uneven paths where exhaustion blurred fear and determination. Each step away from Venezuela was also a step away from the familiar rhythms that once anchored José’s sense of self.

Years later, his nights remain restless. He does not describe panic, but an enduring echo of fear, as though the terrain he crossed still lives inside his nervous system. Research on migration........

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