Mobile Phone Use in Disaster, Conflict and Displacement

Introduction

Mobile device usage has steadily increased with around 95% of the global population having mobile coverage. For marginalised individuals, mobile technologies help ensure more equitable resilience to disaster situations. Marginalised people encompass people with disabilities who are four times more likely to perish in disaster settings and women who are more vulnerable to disaster-ridden environments. In low-income countries, women are 10% less likely to own a mobile phone due to availability along with cultural, social, religious and attitude's towards women's rights. This exclusion from the digital world negatively affects women rescue opportunities in dangerous situations.

Humanitarian Crisis

In emergency humanitarian conditions, mobile phones can be used to inform and educate the public about the emergency and to disseminate information. Communities living in harsh living conditions can use their mobile phone apps or platforms for multiple uses including:

• access up-to date information
• stay in touch with eachother
• report on life-threatening condition that requires emergency help
• connect with humanitarian facilities

Mobile phones become essential tools for refugees for identifying resources that can help navigate their journey and orient themselves to their resettlement complexities.

Refugees

It is estimated for instance that 68% of refugees living in urban centers have access to an internet-enabled phone, with the vast majority prioritizing mobile ownership and connectivity as crucial for their safety

inally, in analysing digital practices in contexts of refugee mobility, it is also important to consider the various contingencies that are encountered while fleeing (e.g. distance to cover, borders to cross, transport, accommodation and food insecurity and anxiety), as well as the characteristics of the people on the move (e.g. demographic and gender dimensions), as these factors will shape not only refugees’ personal experiences and needs but also the ‘gratifications’ that their specific use of smartphones can provide

r refugees’ use of technology can be derived from the large body of empirical studies applying the U&G framework to both traditional and digital media content. The most common motivations, on a broad level, are (1) cognitive (or information seeking), (2) entertainment, (3) interpersonal communication (or relationship maintenance, social connection), (4) diversion (escape boredom, pass time) and (5) surveillance (acquire information about events, society and civic engagement) (Rubin, 2009; Ruggiero, 2000). With mobile communication technologies however, such as the smartphone, gratifications become easily accessible anytime and everywhere (Jung, 2014). The smartphone and its app driven mobile operating system in particular enhances daily productivity and facilitates formal and informal socialisation, entertainment (e.g. games), communication (e.g. messengers, social media), localisation (e.g. maps) and information acquisition (e.g. social media and news media applications) (Gerlich

for instance, refugees highlight the importance of mobile applications to check their location and to orient themselves toward their next destinations, In certain moments, however, they need to negotiate online (in)visibility depending on the borders and actors expected to be encountered. This fosters a change in refugees' digital practices and dependence on the subversive affordances of their smartphones in order to avoid being detected, arrested, detained, and deported (Gillespie et al., 2018, p. 7). On this point, there is extensive evidence that the use of GPS applications can be used by state officials, traffickers, and smugglers to track refugees' movements (Latonero & Kift, 2018; Leurs & Smets, 2018; Wall et al., 2017).

Social Network

Refugees draw greatly on social networks to gain knowledge about asylum procedures in Europe, even before leaving their home countries, facilitating decision-making processes regarding host country destinations (Fiedler, 2019; Gillespie et al., 2018). Dekker et al. (2018) and Fiedler (2018) note that social media communication with groups of fellow migrants is a source of information and empowerment for refugees who can rely on the experiences of others who traveled to a certain route and went through registration processes at European borders. Some informants in Gillespie et al.'s (2018) research said they received tips from other fellow refugees in social media groups about the way they should behave and appear when dealing with state actors: “wear hair gel and dress smartly at borders” (p. 7). In the context of trans-Saharan migration journey, Schaub (2012) states that social ties and networks through mobile phones can provide migrants with a scope of services, such as work opportunities, routes, transportation arrangements, and accommodations, as well as insurance mechanisms for those in need of protection and financial assistance (Zijlstra & Van Liempt, 2017).

Issues

to protect their identities online and information accessed and shared about intended routes and destinations. Many said they engaged in closed Facebook groups, or used avatars and pseudonyms on Facebook to avoid surveillance from the government of their home country and other hostile groups.

Other studies have shed light on the barriers to the use of mobile phones that limits the social inclusion of refugees into the society. Refugees access to reliable and stable mobile connectivity is usually restricted by limited financial resource, the difficulty of getting a sim-card due to their uncertain legal status and local communication infrastructure in their host communities (Fiedler, Citation2019; Maitland & Xu, Citation2015; Witteborn, Citation2015; Wall et al., Citation2017). Other barriers include language skills, limited digital literacy skills and refugees’ sense of insecurity and fear of being surveilled by the government when using their mobile phones (Mancini et al., Citation2019; Opas & McMurray, Citation2015; Wall et al., Citation2017).

Staying in Touch

Fragile and unpredictable mobile access and connectivity do not prevent refugees from keeping their families and friends updated about their journeys. Maintenance of links to their loved ones is also made possible through the “mobile polymedia affordances” of calling and texting (Gillespie et al., 2016; Kutscher & Kreß, 2018), with many refugees reporting as essential for financing their journey while providing emotional support (Alencar et al., 2018). In some cases, however, Syrians preferred to avoid contacting home until they reached their final destination. During the journey, the diversion affordances of the phone helped refugees to relieve boredom and to document memories of their experiences

Social Inclusion

The use of mobile technologies among refugees experiencing resettlement has been associated with social inclusion and opportunities to enhance access to relevant information that can nurture their daily lives.

Health

In the context of refugee health, mobile technologies can be used as an integrative part of face-to-face interventions. Considering the affordability and accessibility of mobile phones, scholars demonstrated that mental health apps and short messaging service (SMS) became complementary methods for monitoring mental health conditions among refugees.

Mobile technologies can have an impact on not only educational but also health inclusion. Refugees connect with online platforms using their mobile phones to access health information and health care from host communities (Pottie et al., Citation2020). Also, refugees relied on social media and text messaging for health care integration, that is, to communicate with health care providers (Danielson, Citation2013). In addition, mobile phones facilitate online self-help and access to online health support groups that provide therapeutic support and collaborative relationships among refugees (Pottie et al., Citation2020; Siapera & Veikou, Citation2013).

Issues

Despite increasing Internet penetration and mobile device proliferation in the lives of displaced people (Gillespie et al., 2016), the use of smartphones by refugees in exile may be constrained by problems related to limited connectivity and the issues of surveillance Alencar et al. 833 and information quality and credibility (Dekker et al., 2018). First, refugees’ connectivity while on the move is subject to fragile and unpredictable access to Internet via Wi-Fi, SIM-cards and battery charging resources. When facing conditions of ‘information precarity’ (Wall et al., 2017), mainly regarding the challenges of access to online information, Gillespie et al. (2018: 5) highlight that refugees also tend to make complementary use of analog sources of information, such as leaflets at refugee camps and hand-drawn maps. Second, the use of smartphones also enables new forms of digital surveillance of (irregular) migration by both state and non-state actors (Dekker et al., 2018: 3). Studies revealed that refugees have developed strategies to reduce this risk and protect their digital identities and access to any information about routes, smugglers, for example, through the use of avatars and pseudonyms (Gillespie et al., 2016), as well as communicating with smugglers and/or other travellers through closed Facebook groups and encrypted platforms such as WhatsApp (Gillespie et al., 2018: 5). On the other contrary, the fact that refugees can access a wide range of sources through their smartphones does not imply that all the information that is available online is trustworthy (Wall et al., 2017; Zijlstra and Van Liempt, 2017). Many report struggling to identify which information can be trusted, who the sources of information are and the reasons behind the sharing of this information (e.g. false promises by smugglers and government deterrence) (Dekker et al., 2018: 3).

General

Modern communication may be of some emotional comfort for people in distress: it is good to ascertain that your folks at home worry less if you keep them informed of your current situation. Moreover, the cell phone represents a logistic device to facilitate a stressful and dangerous journey. Thus, it plays a crucial role in today’s ecology of communication (Altheide 2013); it provides organisation (of travel, togetherness), accessibility of information (when connection and charging devices are available) and contributes to structuring of sorts, of the whole flight.

Cell phones, and particularly the smartphone versions, may be viewed as part of an “interplay among social activities, social change, and social organization and activities” or the “structure, organization, and accessibility of information technology, various forums, media, and channels of information Cell phones, as a means of communication in situations of flight, have proven to guide refugees’ everyday and non-routine extraordinary activities (e.g. finding the way, escaping danger and securing financial supplies); in short, they prove to be an indispensable travel companion. f course, most refugees in Europe use their cell phones in different ways for “staying in touch with friends and family, but they are even more essential for refugees en route” (Gillespie et al. 2016: 11). This is a two-way process: those who are in flight are constantly worrying about those who are left behind, especially those who live with war; and those who have not left worry about their relatives’ perilous border crossings.

Social Inclusion

refugees to stay connected with families back home and establish new connections with locals in their host communities(Wall et al., Citation2017). This helps them overcome the feeling of social isolation and develop a sense of belonging in their host communities (Kaufmann, Citation2018; Wilding, Citation2012). Also, interacting with members of their host communities using mobile phones help refugees overcome language barriers and also learn about host communities’ behaviour and culture, which is useful to their social and economic integration (Bacishoga et al., Citation2016; Mancini et al., Citation2019). Access to the internet using mobile phones have provided refugees with the means to access general information about issues relating to settlement, such as support services, rights, settlement, citizenships, employment, community facilities housing and language learning programmes (AbuJarour & Krasnova, Citation2017; Maitland et al., Citation2015). Refugees use text messages and translation applications to overcome language barriers when accessing services relating to healthcare, housing and employment (Abujarour et al., Citation2021; Danielson, Citation2013). Besides helping refugees access information, Veronis et al. (Citation2018) noted that mobile phones provide a virtual space where refugees develop transcultural connections, that is, negotiating and bridging the cultural gap between refugees and the local culture.

Learning

The role of mobile phones for fostering learning and skills development that allows for a faster integration into their host communities was also considered in the literature. Refugees use e-learning platforms through mobile apps to learn the languages of their host communities during their first phase of resettlement (AbuJarour & Krasnova, Citation2018). Mobile phones used in the education context provide refugees the opportunities to experiment, socialise, learn and grow (Mancini et al., Citation2019). Dahya and Dryden-Peterson’s (Citation2017) study shows that mobile phones enabled access to social networks which allowed refugee women to engage in transnational conversation with other women studying in higher education and this, in turn, contributed to creating a new pathway for refugee education.

Politics

Politically, mobile phones have provided refugees the possibility to exercise their right to express and engage in political discussions in both their host societies and their home of origin (Leurs, Citation2017). Refugees connect to social network to voice out their opinions, engage in both online and offline activism, influence politics and policy, and advocate for refugees rights (Alhayek, Citation2016; Godin & Doná, Citation2016; Pottie et al., Citation2020). According to Siapera and Veikou (Citation2013), refugee youths use their mobile phones to contribute to discussions on social media aimed to bring about their empowerment and action from short postings, storytelling and movements.

Issues

Some migrants highlighted how the mobile allowed them to avoid carrying many objects such as torches, maps, cash money, dictionaries and even documents. An interviewee described the hasty escape preparations as an attempt to digitize and store in the mobile as much as possible of his previous life, in an attempt to preserve it. Many considered their mobile phone as a “travelling light” which was important to escape controls in starting nations. Refugees’ ability to send details of their location to coastguards, friends, or family members while on the move was a matter of necessity and enabled the “distant proximities” t prospect of losing or damaging their own mobile phone raised a deep existential and physical insecurity in refugees Having access to electricity to recharge the phone, and access to the Internet, often became a question of life or death in the refugee journey. Most of the respondents reported that they continually “swap, change and share batteries”. Refugees risked being disconnected without battery and remaining without connection even for a short time meant failing to meet or deliver money to a smuggler on time, getting lost, or being separated from companion veral risks associated with the MPs’ use. As illustrated by Beduschi [10], through the use of GPS applications migrants can be tracked and discovered by border guards, traffickers, smugglers, and common criminals. The study by Gillespie et al. [4] pointed out that using MPs is at once a lifeline and a risk, making specific survival strategies necessary. S

This means that modern devices, such as mobile phones, bring both risks and opportunities migrants; therefore, MPs seem both favouring and threatening asylum seekers’ and refugees’ human rights.

Summary

n. Therefore, mobile phones seem to create opportunities to strengthen and develop digital, linguistic, social and educational skills both for migrants and the people left behind in the countries of origin. Moreover, it is arguable that mobile devices promoted social inclusion and the wellbeing of migrants only to the extent that they have allowed the creation or maintenance of a double bond: one with one’s own cultural heritage and one with the new society. This double bond is fostered by mobile technologies’ affordances through the development of a virtual contact zone where refugees nurtured transcultural connections. Therefore, the use of mobile phones in refugees’ experience seem to be a driving force for the increase of the transcultural social capital and the identity capital.

Issues

Nevertheless, mobile communication could also be a ubiquitous digital threat; through the same tools, refugees could become victims of human traffickers, tracked and controlled by the regimes from which they flee, intercepted or even rejected by the digital control systems of the countries to which they are directed and exploited and manipulated by mainstream media. Therefore, in the absence of clear ethical regulations, the traces left behind by mobile devices could threat migrants’ right to life and security and, consequently, the right to asylum, to citizenship and to wellbeing.

Different Apps

s the digital state-of-the-art solutions, the mentioned platforms together with messaging apps contribute to response coordination and communication between affected communities, volunteers, and aid workers to provide the integrated digital environment for transparent and timely humanitarian assistance. For instance, 4W (Who, What, Where, and When) maps were developed to provide information for the planning of humanitarian assistance, covering the critical questions, such as who is doing what, where, and when. Tracking of humanitarian responders, automated updating of their location and responsibilities were piloted for Nepal, Vanuatu, and the Philippines (Comes and de Walle 2016). Further, KoBoToolbox, developed by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, is a free suite of tools for humanitarian data collection to be used in challenging environments (KoBoToolbox 2009). TraceRx platform is positioned as a well-known humanitarian supply chain solution. In large-scale emergencies, such as the earthquake in Nepal in April 2015 and the hurricane in Haiti in October 2016, Humanitarian ID was used to perform the humanitarian contact lists management (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2015; Stewart 2015).

messaging apps actualize problems related to data protection, privacy, and security since the information environment is often contested, and misinformation, propaganda, and rumors travel swiftly (Roby 2017), particularly, in the case of armed conflicts and disasters. For humanitarians, the risks of mobile app usage are associated with submitting or providing the permission to access the personal information, such as name, location, contacts, email address, and photos. The negative side is that this allows the provider of messaging app to collect a significant information on the user, including his daily routine, personal preferences, and list of trustees.

spectrum of different technologies that could usefully be exploited for DRR (Fig. 1). In areas of poor Internet provision and/or depressed smartphone ownership, voice calls and SMS messaging are used to target broad swathes of the population; for instance, Monsoon flood alerts for certain rivers in Nepal and India, sent by each respective country’s governmental water bureaucracy (Pandeya et al., 2020). For Internet-connected smartphones, social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as messaging services like WhatsApp, while commonly associated with emergency response, also offer an important channel for official hazard warning communications, and may also augment social capital (Kaigo, 2012, Agahari et al., 2018). Similarly, Geographic Information System (GIS)-based technologies represent another (spatial) means of risk communication. Google Maps, for instance, has been used to develop a user-led disaster management system in Bangladesh (Sonwane, 2014). OpenStreetMap (OSM), an open-source and collaborative GIS platform, has also been used to develop similar systems (Rahman et al., 2012), or to allow affected communities to generate local landslide hazard, risk, and vulnerability maps dynamically (Parajuli et al., 2020). However, the most commonly utilised mobile technology in DRR are apps: they provide a user-friendly means of feeding raw data into hazard early-warning systems (EWS), the output from which can then be disseminated in visually appealing form back to users (Paul et al., 2018). They are generally highly context (i.e. country, natural hazard)-specific: two examples are MAppERS (Mobile Applications for Emergency Response and Support), which aims to reduce flood risk in Denmark by allowing users to share geospatial data such as geotagged images of flood extent with basin authorities (Frigerio et al., 2018); and MyShake, a global seismic platform that exploits users’ smartphones to detect earthquakes and record the magnitude of ground

Drones

The advanced unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), also known as a drone, is an item whose flight is controlled either autonomously by artificial intelligence, computers, or a pilot on the ground. The promising directions of drone application in humanitarian crises are the following: mapping, delivering essential items to hard-to-access locations, monitoring environmental changes, supporting damage assessments, etc. (Fondation Suisse de Déminage 2016). Humanitarian organizations have started to use UAVs, including in Haiti and the Philippines to provide real-time information and situation monitoring, public information, search and rescue, etc. (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2014). In this way, different types of drones ensure accurate and up-to-date data on demand, helping representatives of humanitarian missions to make more informed decisions. However, some issues, such as data protection, should be addressed during application of drones.

Resources

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