An exile is not a "defector"

The daily realities that lead some of us to rebel, or even move away, to go on "holiday", to "defect" from a society that is less and less meaningful, are nothing (or so little) compared to others whose only choice is to escape, to flee…

To "free" oneself from one’s professional, family or community obligations cannot compare (without downplaying the struggles that some people experience) with the plight of a forced migration, of exile. It is not a question of choice or discernment, but of life and death. It is not about "defection", but about exile, not the exercise of free will, but a liberation.

In fact, exiles and "defectors" have to talk to each other, to express their despair or hope, to enrich each other, to travel together, in order to extract from their migration (exile or "defection") a new meaning, a renewed life, and to be together… their migration, our migrations: migrant, you, like me.

Pierre