Reimagining Refugee Identity Systems: A Sociological Approach

Abstract

This paper explores how the social identity of refugees shapes and is shaped through the process of registering with humanitarian organisations. Building on the recent advance of critical studies on digital identity systems for refugee management, we show how the lens of social identity is helpful in understanding the relationship between refugee information systems and refugee experiences of registration and accessing services. Identity is a key issue related to contemporary information systems yet remains an under-theorised area of investigation from a sociological perspective in the field of information systems, international development and refugee studies. Using qualitative data from 75 refugees in Bidi Bidi refugee camp in Northern Uganda, this paper showcases the centrality of refugees' social identity in determining the journey of vulnerable individuals focusing on three key dimensions. First, how the identities of refugees based on home and family in South Sudan were carried over to refugees' new location in Uganda and were later transformed through the process of registration. Second, how work and career profile of their lives in South Sudan shaped the identity of refugees, and how the absence of education credentials limited the realisation of personal aspirations. Third, how interactions between institutions and refugees are both shaped by and shape refugee identity. Our findings point to important policy implications for designing and implementing refugee identity systems.

Ethical implications related to processing of personal data and artificial intelligence in humanitarian crises: A scoping review

“…Surprisingly, only three studies mentioned computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) tools such as KoboToolbox which has been adopted by a broad range of international and national humanitarian agencies as the tool of choice for needs assessments [89,90]. Similarly, use of spreadsheets were only mentioned by one study as a cause for ethical concern, despite being the main data storage and sharing mechanism of choice for many humanitarian organizations [91]. Such low-tech data processing means are addressed in recent guidelines, for example, giving guidance on how to remove sensitive data before sharing Excel les with others [9].…”