Introduction

This chapter seeks to provide an overview of the migration patterns of Kurdish-Yezidi refugees as well as the knowledge production process that determine their realities and representation. This chapter addresses certain issues that underlie the production of refugees and offers explanations for why the Kurdish-Yezidi populations leave their home countries, what these individuals experience during their escape at the hands of smugglers and border guards, what affects their lives in receiving cities, and finally how homeland affairs continue to shape their lives in new receiving environments. The chapter further discusses the epistemological frameworks—humanitarian, state-centric, and colonial—that influence how we perceive refugees’ cultural and social realities. While criticizing these approaches, the chapter emphasizes an alternative form of knowledge production, refugee-centric epistemic agency based on oral testimonies and storytelling.