Under the Gaze of the State: ICT Use and State Surveillance of Eritrean Refugees in Italy

Opas, Matthew E.; McMurray, David

doi:10.1093/rsq/hdv013

Cited by 14 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…Virtual intimacy is often the only means to maintain relationships. Their ability to physically travel—and therefore to visit each other in person—is heavily restricted, and thus, interactions can only take place digitally (Opas & McMurray, 2015). Transnational communication might bring about positive feelings and can be considered as coping mechanisms for offline material hardships, but what are the more lasting impressions of these digital connections?…”

Section: The Impressions Virtual Intimacy Leaves Behindmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Mediation of Hope: Digital Technologies and Affective Affordances Within Iraqi Refugee Households in Jordan

Twigt

2018

Social Media + Society

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Worldwide, refugees are increasingly living in uncertainty for undetermined periods of time, waiting for an enduring legal and social solution. In this article, I consider how this experience of waiting is perceived through and influenced by the ubiquity of transnational digital connections, which play a central role in Iraqi refugee households in Jordan. I draw on ethnographic fieldwork conducted among Iraqi refugees in Jordan's capital Amman to further understand the use of digital technologies in everyday experiences of prolonged displacement. Waiting is an intrinsic affective phenomenon, colored by hope and anxiety. I argue that affective affordances-the potential of different media forms to bring about affects like hope and anxiety-enable Iraqi refugees to reorient themselves to particular places and people. As "no futures" are deemed possible in Jordan or Iraq, digital technologies serve as orientation devices enabling them to imagine futures elsewhere. Through the interplay of media forms, the Iraqi refugees refract their own lives via the experiences of friends and family members who have already traveled onward and who in their perception are able to rebuild a dignified life. Transnational digital connections not only provide a space for hope and optimistic ideas of futures elsewhere but also help to sustain one's experience of immobility. I argue that using the imagination can be understood as an act of not giving in to structural constraints and might be crucial to making Iraqi refugee life in Jordan bearable.

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Section: The Impressions Virtual Intimacy Leaves Behindmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Mediation of Hope: Digital Technologies and Affective Affordances Within Iraqi Refugee Households in Jordan

Twigt

2018

Social Media + Society

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“…Information and communications technologies (ICT) have become leading features of contemporary immigration waves (Opas and McMurray, 2015). The Oxford Dictionary of English (2010) defines technology as 'the use of science in industry, engineering, etc., to invent useful things or to solve problems', which captures how in the last decade industries and web science have been responding to increased immigration by developing specialized mobile applications to facilitate immigrants' needs (Hendler and Mulvehill, 2016;Opas and McMurray, 2015;Hendler et al, 2008). Smartphones' ability to access the internet and to provide applications make them computers in miniature (Rotondi et al, 2017;Zhang, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mobile applications aiming to facilitate immigrants’ societal integration and overall level of integration, health and mental health. Does artificial intelligence enhance outcomes?

Drydakis

2021

Computers in Human Behavior

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Using panel data on immigrant populations from European, Asian and African countries the study estimates positive associations between the number of mobile applications in use aiming to facilitate immigrants' societal integration (m-Integration) and increased level of integration (Ethnosizer), good overall health (EQ-VAS) and mental health . It is estimated that the patterns are gender sensitive. In addition, it is found that m-Integration applications in relation to translation and voice assistants, public services, and medical services provide the highest returns on immigrants' level of integration, health/mental health status. For instance, translation and voice assistant applications are associated with a 4% increase in integration and a 0.8% increase in good overall health. Moreover, m-Integration applications aided by artificial intelligence (AI) are associated with increased health/mental health and integration levels among immigrants. We indicate that AI by providing customized search results, peer reviewed e-learning, professional coaching on pronunciation, real-time translations, and virtual communication for finding possible explanations for health conditions might bring better quality services facilitating immigrants' needs. This is the first known study to introduce the term 'm-Integration', quantify associations between applications, health/mental health and integration for immigrants, and assess AI's role in enhancing the aforementioned outcomes.

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“…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, 2019;Maitland & Xu, 2015;Witteborn, 2015;Wall et al, 2017). 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, 2019;Opas & McMurray, 2015;Wall et al, 2017).…”

Section: Displaced People and Mobile Phonesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mobile phone use for social inclusion: the case of internally displaced people in Nigeria

Dasuki

Effah

2021

Information Technology for Development

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Internally Displaced People (IDP) have received less attention in ICT4D research. This study examines how IDP in Africa use mobile phones to enhance their social inclusion. We employed Sen's Capability Approach as the theoretical lens and a qualitative case study as a methodology. Qualitative data obtained from 21 conflict-induced IDP in Nigeria suggests that mobile phones serve not only as a self-help commodity to overcome disconnection from their communities but also a means to enhance their individual and collective capabilities, which in turn fosters their social inclusion. However, generating these capabilities depend on the personal, social, and environmental experiences of IDP. With these findings, the study offers contributions to theory, research, and practice.

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Under the Gaze of the State: ICT Use and State Surveillance of Eritrean Refugees in Italy

Cited by 14 publications

References 0 publications

The Mediation of Hope: Digital Technologies and Affective Affordances Within Iraqi Refugee Households in Jordan

The Mediation of Hope: Digital Technologies and Affective Affordances Within Iraqi Refugee Households in Jordan

Mobile applications aiming to facilitate immigrants’ societal integration and overall level of integration, health and mental health. Does artificial intelligence enhance outcomes?

Mobile phone use for social inclusion: the case of internally displaced people in Nigeria

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