An analysis of refugees use of ICT. Languages and limitations

The purpose of this research study is to identify how various actors in the asylum and refugee system use information and communication technologies (ICTs). In a globalized world where communications increasingly take place over smarthphones, internet, and social media, how are ICTs best used by refugees when seeking asylum in Canada, as well as by refugee serving organizations (RSOs) that provide services to asylum seekers? This paper is part of an international study commissioned by SINGA France and portions of this research were presented at conferences in Montreal, Canada and Bogota, Colombia

Innovation, 2021

Human migration has become a global phenomenon. With 258 million migrants around the world as of 2018and 70.8 million of these being refugees, migration issues have become a public discourse.Even though 34% of the global audience believe that global migration should be reduced, 20.4 million refugees find themselves in foreign countries. An important factor for refugees is how they communicate using their smartphoneswhile in their host countries. Using descriptive research design and deploying questionnaire to elicit responses from 48 purposively refugees in the German city of Bonn,and hinged on the Migration Network theory, this research finds out that refugees use their smartphones mostly to communicate with their families and getting information about their home countries. The research recommends that further research be conducted on how refugees in foreign countries communicate with host citizens.

2021

In today’s migration processes, Information Communication Technologies (ICT) are increasingly important for refugee experiences and mobilities (Gillespie, Osseiran and Cheesman, 2016). In this light, there is a call by institutions such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2016a; 2020a) and researchers in the field of refugee integration (AbuJarour et al, 2019) for initiatives employing ICT to cater for refugees’ need for information and communication. This article discusses some information seeking practices of asylum seekers and refugees, in online and offline environments. The data was gathered by means of nine focus group discussions with refugee communities in Greece, Italy, and Spain, involving a total of 41 participants of 13 different nationalities. Issues relating to the languages and the accessibility of the information that is available to them are discussed. The results of this research will inform the subsequent phases of REBUILD, a project funded by Eu...

2005

Hagira, 2017

Interviews, site visits and observations are used in this study to describe the information needs of the asylum seeker and refugee community in Israel, utilizing Taylor's (1991) concept of identifying " information use environments " (IUE), whose elements are people, their settings, their problems, and the solutions they find for their problems. A detailed analysis of the findings and framing them within the components of Taylor's model allow the creation of a framework for improving the refugees' situation in terms of their information needs. The study identified that asylum seekers and refugees in Israel have constructed a media environment based on their self-identification as " others ". They created personal and technological circles to address their information needs, broadly divided into three types: personal, institutional, and spatial. Within the public sphere, they erected Internet cafés, their own " post office " , and their own media. Within the private sphere, they acquired electronic media that address many of their needs. We conclude that since refugees are situated in society's least advantaged position, attending to their information needs should be a policy priority of their host society.

A series of interviews conducted in Amman, Jordan and Louisville, Kentucky posed the following questions: "How is information and communication technology (ICT) use affecting interpersonal communication patterns within the displaced Iraqi community in the US and Jordan?" and "What are the factors that limit the proliferation of the internet as a communication tool in that community?" Participants were individuals with legal refugee status and Iraqi nationality who left Iraq after the beginning of the 2003 Iraq War. Eight interviews were conducted in Louisville during the summer of 2012 and twelve were conducted in Amman during November 2012. Participants were asked demographic questions, as well as questions about their use of mobile phones and the internet. Based on these interviews and a survey of information collected on mobile phone and internet access in Jordan and Iraq, the researcher concluded that Iraqi refugees primarily utilize ICTs to communicate with relatives abroad. Younger participants in both Jordan and the US use ICTs to communicate with friends more often than older individuals. Participants in Jordan were more likely to call relatives in Iraq instead of using the internet than participants in the US. Interviewees in the US used smart phones, while few in Jordan did. Access issues for Iraqis in Jordan included cost and security concerns. Iraqis in the US had few access concerns. Differences between the two groups can be attributed to resource differences, as most of the participants in the US came directly from Iraq and came from well-off families and those in Jordan had exhausted their savings while waiting for resettlement. This study expands the information available on the subject of refugees' transnational communication patterns and could be helpful to aid and resettlement organizations in the future.

2010

Sociologists are concerned with the social implications of technology; new social networks, virtual communities and ways of interaction that have arisen lately. The Internet which is the newest in a series of major information breakthroughs is of interest to sociologists in various ways for example: as a tool for research, for example, in using online questionnaires instead of paper ones, as a discussion platform, a communication tool and as a research topic. The sociology of the Internet in a formal sense is the study about the analysis of virtual worlds and social changes catalyzed through new media like the Internet. According to DiMaggio et al. (2001), research in sociology of the internet tends to focus on the Internet's implications in the issues of inequality of accessibility of Internet or the issues concerning the digital divide, (the haves and the have not) the adopters versus the non adopters among other issues. Author and sociologist like Manuel Castells (Castells, 1999, p27) have identified Refugees or new immigrants as a disadvantaged group in the digital society and also various researches including the Swedish Justice department (2002) had identified refugees as a risk group in terms of digital access in Sweden. This means there is a need to bridge the digital divide and promote the use and knowledge of ICT's among the marginalised or segregated groups of people that are found to be at risk, specifically refugees. And one way to bridge the digital divide among these groups will be to Identify the factors that influence their adoption and non adoption of ICT's, because identifying these factors and knowing the problems through the experience of the people affected will generate an opportunity to understand what is required to promote ICT's adoption among these groups.

2020

This doctoral research project is a visual linguistic ethnography that provides thick descriptions of newly arrived Syrian refugees’ smartphone-mediated digital literacy practices. The study investigates how three male newcomers to Leeds, Rojan, Aban and Mamoud, utilize mobile technologies and online resources, such as multilingual Facebook groups and smartphone applications, to instigate and support processes of settlement and belonging. To trace and interpret these quotidian mobile practices, prolonged and consistent engagement with my participants and their lifeworlds was required. Thus, data collection concerning this ethnography took place over an in-depth ten-month period at various data collection sites. The multimodal and spatio-visual literacy practices that my key participants engaged with on their mobile devices were inherently diverse and complex to interpret. Here, the analytical lenses of capital and space have informed conceptualizations of how my participants’ digita...

This short paper aims to offer insights into the digital literacy practices of newly arrived Syrian refugees, particularly those displayed on mobile technologies such as smartphones. It is based on two plenary talks that I have given at the National Nordic Conference in Helsingør and the Norskkonferansen in Oslo, in April 2017. The article is organized into three parts; first, I provide the reader with a brief overview of conceptions of literacy and put forward an understanding of literacy as plural, multimodal social practices. Second, I exemplify this notion of digital literacy practices within an adult migration context. Here, I draw on exemplary data from my ongoing doctoral research, which is an ethnographically informed multiple case study of newly arrived Syrian refugees’ use of mobile technologies. The sample data that I discuss in this article pictures one of my key participants, Rojan, using YouNow, a multimodal and interactive live streaming app. Last, I draw conclusions and address potential implications for language practitioners and others, who are working in the field of adult migrant language and literacy education.

Journal of Social Studies Education Research 2018:9 (3), 351-369

The paper explores the current state of affairs in the language service providers’ attitude and practice regarding the digital tools potential for language and culture mediation with refugees. The issue is considered from the angle of interpreters’ awareness of and competency in using up-to-date electronic tools to support refugees’ language rights in emergency settings in general and at the border crossing points and temporary settlements, in particular. The current importance of the research rests on the global migration tendencies that map a lot of challenges for cross cultural communication with forced migrants and refugees. The paper aims to explore the language service providers’ competence and their aptitude to use digital tools for interpreting in diverse settings, including those related to migration contexts, oral human interaction and language mediation at the border crossing points, in particular. The study integrates desk and field research, includes the analysis of relevant literature and professional sources and further moves to a pilot survey. It involves interpreters with working experience in emergency situations against global migration background. The empirical analysis aims to explore specific preferences and benefits that various tools provide for an interpreter. 111 interpreters from 7 countries were engaged in the survey. The survey strived to identify interpreters’ professional background regarding the skills interpreters’ awareness of digital tools for interpreting process support and interpreters’ attitude to the use of the relevant tools in their professional activities in the settings related to mediation activities for refugees at the stage of their crossing the host country border. The research findings reveal that neither Industry nor Academia fully responds to the society needs in terms of interpreters’ awareness of and competency in using up-to-date electronic tools to foster the quality of their professional activities in the socially significant areas, related to emergency contexts in general, and to communication with refugees at the border crossing areas, in particular. The research results lead to the list of recommendations to both Academia and Language Service Providers to enhance the timeliness, scope, adequacy and quality of their activities with a view to fostering the cross cultural communication efficiency in emergency settings.