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Can Cell Phones Solve the Refugee Crisis?

The world continues to be gripped by images of vast numbers of migrants, both economic and political refugees, making their way across the Mediterranean to Europe. The conflict in Syria was by far the biggest driver of the migration, but the ongoing violence in Afghanistan; abuses of forced labor in Eritrea; as well as grinding poverty in Iraq, Nigeria, Kosovo, Pakistan, Somalia, and Sudan also led individuals, families, and entire villages to seek new lives elsewhere. The physical and emotional challenges to the refugees are obvious. Already traumatized before they even entered Europe, thousands died trying to cross the Mediterranean or during hazardous land crossings, which even included landmine fields that remained from previous wars. Once in Europe, they were often greeted with a less than positive reception. Critics argued that European countries response was more focused on securing borders than on making even short-term plans for the desperate families. Complicating the situation was the rise of nationalist parties in many receiving countries and concerns about terrorists among the large number of arrivals. Surprisingly, cell phones may offer a solution to some of the challenges of such massive and unexpected migrations. For governments and aid groups to be able to assist migrants effectively, they need accurate and timely statistics about who the migrants are and how many are arriving.

Such statistics can also counter common misperceptions that only serve to postpone urgently needed political and humanitarian response. Without migration statistics, a country cant meaningfully plan how to allocate resourcesfor instance, to assist asylum-seekers or migrants in need. So how do cell phones figure in to this? There are now more than 7 billion mobile phone subscriptions globally, at least 5 billion of which are in developing countries. Mobile phone penetration is growing fast, particularly across Asia and Africa, as is the number of Internet users worldwide. This means that an unprecedentedly large and complex amount of data is being generated in real time, every time a call or an online payment is made, or every time people interact on social media.

The use of cell phones was observed during the refugee crisis but not always in a positive way. When images appeared of refugees huddled together using their smartphones, online comments quickly became hostile: people scoffed about how needy these people could be if all they were doing was updating their Facebook accounts. However, research conducted among victims of emergencies or natural disasters in the United States shows that 53 percent of smartphone users said the technology was vital to their well-being. Soon it will be possible to track thousands of migrants moving from multiple countries to multiple destinations, the same way a person in Berlin can use an app to track her lost iPhone. Such information could be used to inform nation-states about the flow of migrants and provide them with the information they need to consider more humanitarian options.