People often tell refugees and exiles that they chose to leave.

I have always found that statement misleading.

Choice suggests freedom. It suggests that all options were available and that one path was simply preferred over another. But for many of us, leaving was never a dream, a plan, or an adventure. It was the result of watching opportunities disappear one by one until staying became harder than leaving.

I did not leave my country because I stopped loving it.

I left because I stopped believing that the future I wanted could exist there.

For years, I watched talented young people abandon careers, families, and ambitions in search of something many societies take for granted: the chance to build a life through hard work and ability. Some left for freedom. Some left for security. Some left because they were tired of waiting for a future that never seemed to arrive.

Governments often speak about migration as if it were a natural phenomenon, something beyond their control. But when millions of educated, skilled, and ambitious citizens leave over decades, that is not an........

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