When I was young, I left Sudan in search of ‘success’. Now I yearn for family and home | Nesrine Malik

In the stillness of lockdown, I now see that the costs of globalisation have come to outweigh its benefits

For as long as I have been able to remember, I have known that I would not always live where I was born. I knew that at some point, I would have to leave my country of Sudan if I wanted to secure work that would provide a meaningful living.

At the time, it wasn't a sad realisation but more an exciting prospect, one that promised a shot at a modern" life. To me, that modernity meant social mobility, the loosening of oppressive family ties and economic prosperity.