The Best, the Worst, and the Hardest to Find: How People, Mobiles, and Social Media Connect Migrants In(to) Europe

Abstract

For displaced people, migrating into Europe has highly complex information needs about the journey and destination. Each new need presents problems of where to seek information, how to trust or distrust information, and financial and other costs. The outcomes of receiving poor or false information can cause bodily harm or death, loss of family, or financial ruin. We aim to make two major contributions: First, provide rich insights into digital literacy, information needs, and strategies among Syrian and Iraqi refugees who entered Europe in 2015, a topic rarely dealt with in the literature. Second, we seek to change the dominant perspective on migrants and refugees as passive victims of international events and policies by showing their capacities and skills to navigate the complex landscape of information and border regimes en route to Europe. Building on research at Za’atari refugee camp (Jordan), we surveyed 83 Arab refugees in two centers in Berlin. Analyses address refugees’ temporal information worlds, focusing on the importance and difficulty in finding specific information, how migrants identify mis- and disinformation, and the roles of information and technology mediaries. Findings illustrate the digital capacities refugees employ during and after their journey to Europe; they show social support via social media and highlight the need for a radical shift in thinking about and researching migration in the digital age.

Mobile communication and refugees: An analytical review of academic literature

“…Only my Mother” (Gillespie et al, 2018, p. 8). In light of these events, Borkert, Fisher, and Yafi (2018) emphasize the agency of Arab refugees in negotiating the validity of informational sources, as well as in developing digital strategies 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.…”

Information seeking and communication during forced migration: An empirical analysis of refugees’ digital media use and its effects on their perceptions of Germany as their target country

“…This tension often leads to the asylum seekers transmitting rather overoptimistic reports to the country of origin (Witteborn, 2015). More recent qualitative studies which focus on people who had recently fled from Syria, Iraq and Central Asia and presently live in Germany also emphasize the importance of the smartphone for the maintenance of contacts with the country of origin (Borkert et al, 2018;Fiedler, 2016Fiedler, , 2019 and also for the bridging function to the host country (Kutscher and Kreß, 2015), for example, through language learning apps. Fiedler (2016), who conducted 36 in-depth interviews with Syrian refugees, is one of the few scholars who also looks at media usage in the country of origin before flight.…”

Gender Norms, Sexuality and Post-socialist Identity: Does Migration Matter?

“…This is also the case due to varying German language proficiency in migrant women: those who came as dependents to/with their husbands and have been living in Germany for a short time are especially in need of communication or help in Russian, at least online. Additionally, according to the previous research, (Russian-speaking) migrants are likely to believe that fellow citizens, defined by the same language and collective memory, would understand and help them better than natives (Dekker and Engbersen 2014;Borkert et al 2018).…”