Claudia Koehler conducted and led the storytelling session with David Amos. She works in the field of migration and has been involved in several refugee-focused projects that center lived experience, documentation, and public awareness.

Her work includes participation, collaboration and organising in initiatives such as Voice of Refugees, refugee storytelling projects, and Culture of Refugees. Across these projects, she has focused on creating spaces where refugees can speak for themselves, without their experiences being simplified, distorted, or reduced to statistics.

Through her engagement with survivors of migration routes, detention, and displacement, Claudia has developed a grounded understanding of illegal and irregular migration. Her insight is based on direct contact with refugees and long-term involvement in storytelling processes, not on assumptions or abstract policy discussions. She emphasizes that illegal migration is often the result of forced circumstances, including violence, persecution, trafficking, and the absence of safe and legal migration pathways.

During the interview with David Amos, her approach was structured, attentive, and respectful. She allowed space for difficult details to be expressed clearly and without interruption. Her role was not to dramatize the story, but to document it accurately and responsibly.

Claudia’s work challenges dominant narratives that portray refugees only as economic migrants or passive victims. By focusing on testimony and first-hand accounts, she contributes to a more realistic understanding of migration, one that reflects coercion, survival, and the long-term impact of displacement on individuals and families.