I am delighted to write an introductory message to the first issue of OxMo. Just about a year ago a group of enthusiastic MSc students at the RSC came to see me with a proposition. This was to establish a new publication linking academia with policy and practice in the field of forced migration. What was unique about this venture was that OxMo would be a vehicle run by students for students to engage in global discourse.
With an increasingly large constituency of graduates trained in the field of refugee and forced migration studies around the world, the production of a journal dedicated to their needs and perspectives was an initiative ‘waiting to happen’.

Here, less than a year later, is the excellent first issue. Congratulations to you all on this initiative and your hard work in moving from concept to reality! As well as the energy, enthusiasm and commitment one would expect from young students and former students, come other vital attributes - critical and balanced analyses and reports of key issues and concerns in the field of forced migration, the development of an intellectual ‘community’ of young people able to create and willing to share new and challenging perspectives, independence and autonomy which enables contributors to offer vibrant critique. The range of material in the first issue is indicative of these aspirations and the lively and independent stance that OxMo aims to foster.

At RSC we are delighted that OxMo has succeeded.

Roger Zetter

Director Refugees Studies Centre,
University of Oxford

February, 2011.
Oxford, England