Narratives of military migration and policy in the United Kingdom: a decolonial analysis

This research focuses on the experience of Foreign and Commonwealth nationals who come to the United Kingdom to join the Armed Forces, or to join family members who work for the UK Armed Forces, and the narratives of migration policy involved.

The study seeks to examine narratives of military migration in comparison to immigration policies for military workers, veterans and families in the UK and to propose practices that envision the dismantlement of coloniality. Although decolonising the military forces completely would not be possible as they are, by definition, a colonial power, suggesting equity policies is a step towards decoloniality, since it requires practical action. Therefore, the aimed outcome is immigration policy that allows military migrants to reclaim agency.

The sample chosen for this research has been named 'military migrants.' This study considers 'military migrants' to be nationals of Nepal, Ireland and Commonwealth countries, who have been recruited in their country of origin specifically to join the UK Armed Forces, and now have left the Forces, but are still based in the UK. This is based on the current eligibility criteria for Foreign and Commonwealth/non-UK personnel to work in the UK Armed Forces. It does not include British nationals nor those who already had dual nationality and lived in the UK prior to joining the Armed Forces. This research aims to collect and analyse data under the scope of narrative inquiry, situating the individuals' and communities' stories in the wider social and political context of military migration in the UK, allowing a comparison with the context of the migration policies analysed. This includes narrative interviews with veterans and family members, aiming to understand how policy has affected their experience and what their expectations for future policies are.

This research aims to explore the coloniality of immigration policies in military migrants' experience in the United Kingdom through the following research questions:

• How do UK immigration policies currently frame military migrants?
• What is the impact of immigration policy on the experience of veterans, families and serving personnel?
• How do military migrants experience the colonial institution of the British military?

Using narrative inquiry, this research considers 'military migrants' to be nationals of Nepal, Ireland and Commonwealth countries, who have been recruited in their country of origin specifically to join the UK Armed Forces and are currently veterans living in the United Kingdom. It does not include those who already had dual nationality and lived in the UK prior to joining the Armed Forces. For the present phase of the research project, 3-4 veterans are being recruited.