The Global South Migration Lab (GSML) is Canada’s first research hub dedicated to migration within the Global South. For decades, the dominant narrative has focused on people fleeing the Global South to reach the Global North—framing migration as a threat rather than a complex, multidirectional reality. But most migrants never leave the Global South.

Take Venezuela: almost 8 million people have fled, but 85% remain in neighbouring countries. Movements are often circular, regional, and shaped by local conditions—yet traditional migration theories, crafted in the Global North, fail to explain this.

GSML exists to flip the script. Led by Dr. Yvonne Su, the lab supports South-led research, collaborates with Global South scholars, and centers the lived experiences of displaced communities. It challenges a system where most migration studies are published by academics in high-income countries—many with no direct ties to the regions they study.

This distorted narrative has consequences. In the North, it fuels xenophobia and deadly border policies. In the South, it blinds governments to the economic power of regional diasporas. Humanitarian aid remains dominated by Northern actors, sidelining local responses.

GSML spotlights the realities and resilience of South-South migration. It aims to build knowledge, shift power, and shape policies rooted in truth—not colonial myths.