As explicated in the introduction to this part, feelings of belonging can be generative of civic participation for refugees, ex-refugees and their descendants in their countries of resettlement in the Global North. However, these feelings need to be fostered in conditions of reciprocity, and with emphasis on refugees’ own agency and in-situ connections. In the midst of headlines of a ‘refugee crisis’ across the world on a cyclical basis, both formal and informal advocacy communities band with the creative arts sector to assist those seeking asylum to tell their own stories. On the surface, such initiatives are well-intentioned and seek to change the minds of those indifferent to the issue, as well as those moderately opposed to more humanitarian refugee policies in many countries that are signatories to the UN Refugee Convention. While it is difficult to provide empirical evidence with a large enough scope to prove that such intentions are unequivocally realised, it is important to understand what it is doing for the refugee storytellers themselves. Are most of these endeavours created in partnership with refugee communities? If not, what impact does the imperative to perform have on those most affected, that is, the refugees themselves? And finally, why do the arts matter for refugee stories, and what kind of stories create solidarities across communities?

The purpose of this chapter is to shift the focus on refugee storytelling from the intentions of the non-refugee interlocutors and the feelings of the audience members to the affective, rational and relational agency of the refugees themselves. Using refugee and ex-refugee storytellers across a range of mediums as case studies (from primary interviews and secondary sources), it asks the question – with refugee agency front and centre, what would their stories look like, and how would they help create feelings and communities of belonging? Educating non-refugee audiences is not the primary goal of these stories. Rather, they are more vested in the process of recovering and re-telling traumatic histories in a way that is beneficial for refugees or ex-refugees themselves. In addition, it creates platforms of inter-generational dialogue in refugee families and helps them connect with other disadvantaged communities in their new homes.