When the phone stops ringing: on the meanings and causes of disruptions in communication between Eritrean refugees and their families back home

Abstract

In recent years, a growing number of studies have highlighted the role of technology in facilitating the circulation of the information and images that underpin migrants' journeys and aspirations. However, less attention has been paid to the social circumstances that obstruct these communication flows. Based on ethnographic work in Italy and Eritrea, in this article I show that, despite the technological possibilities that are available, contacts between Eritrean refugees in Italy and their families back home are often extremely limited. This is not the result of infrastructural under‐development, but of a bundle of social and family expectations that my informants perceive as overwhelming. My respondents in Italy maintained many transnational relationships with friends and acquaintances around the world, but generally not with their parents in Eritrea. While revisiting the literature on the moral economy of transnational families, I show that my informants' attempts to move onwards from Italy emerge from their wish to reconnect with their left‐behind kin. Only by reaching the final destination of their geographical and moral journey can they support their families back home. Only this can give them respect in the eyes of their community and restore transnational communication with their families.

Mobile communication and refugees: An analytical review of academic literature

“…These findings resonate with Harney's (2013) observations of asylum seekers in Naples, Italy and the pressure they felt to be always reachable on their phones and attentive to different concerns and demands from families back home (e.g., helping family members who were sick or sending money home). For Eritrean refugees in Belloni's (2019) research, the fact that they have not yet established a dignified life in Rome to be able to help their families in Eritrea was a reason for shame and guilt, which made them temporally disrupt long‐distance communication with their loved ones despite being connected through their phones.…”

Continuity and Social Support: A Longitudinal Study of Unaccompanied Refugee Minors’ Care Networks

“…Equally, our results indicate that these sectors shift and evolve over time, challenging a static view of social support networks (Schapendonk, 2015). For instance, even though the attachment and loyalty that participants felt toward their families were often unscathed, even after years of separation, and even though smartphones and internet facilitated digital parenting and transnational family cohesion, in some cases mitigating these adverse effects, the quality of parental support was severely affected (e.g., due to worries about the family, children not wanting to burden them, and family expectations or conflict) (Belloni, 2020;Derluyn & Ang, 2020). In response, URMs supplemented this support, e.g.…”

The Digital Mediation of Migration: A Qualitative Thematic Synthesis

“…Although digital technologies are widely used by migrant communities and play a growing role in mediating their experiences, there was also considerable consensus that there are 'digital divides' amongst migrant groups in terms of access to these technologies and ability to use them. These divides are largely due to disparities in digital literacy, gender and age demographics, financial capacity and, critically, ability to access infrastructures such as Wi-Fi at various stages of the journey (Arvanitis & Yelland, 2019;Belloni, 2019;Dekker & Engbersen, 2014;Dhoest, 2019 p. 3;Gillespie et al, 2018;Leurs, 2016;Kutscher & Kreß, 2018;Maitland, 2018;Ross, 2018;Ruokolainen & Widén, 2019;Whitteborn, 2015). Additionally, while many migrants are highly active online (Chouliaraki, 2017), some irregular migrants are aware that they may be the subject of surveillance by border authorities and prefer applications and platforms with anonymised and encryption features (Dhoest, 2019;Gillespie, et al, 2018;Kutscher & Kreß, 2018;Whitteborn, 2015).…”

“…Several authors argue that digital media and technologies can enable migrants to navigate their journeys to Europe with greater ease and security (Andersson, 2019;Dhoest, 2019;Gillespie et al, 2018;Kutscher & Kreß, 2018;Mandic, 2017;Milivojevic, 2018). The greater connectivity afforded through these mediums facilitates the formation of transnational communities between families, friends and shared sociocultural identities (Alinejad et al, 2019;Almenara-Niebla & Ascanio-Sánchez, 2019;Bayramoğlu & Lünenborg, 2018;Belloni, 2019;Dekker et al, 2016;Dekker & Engbersen, 2014;Dhoest, 2019;Ferra & Nguyen, 2017;Fiedler, 2019;Leurs, 2016;Patterson & Leurs, 2019;Pérez & Salgado, 2018;Tanzanu, 2018;Urchs et al, 2019). As a result, close and long ties can be developed and maintained across territorial boundaries, building transnational networks that are both a product and motor of migration.…”

“…With greater access to information and communication there are higher possibilities of encountering untrustworthy information or connecting to criminal entities such as human smugglers and traffickers via digital channels (Bokert et al, 2018;Dekker & Engbersen, 2014). The impact of social media on migrants may also include increased anxiety and social pressures along social, cultural, economic and political dimensions (Hunter, 2015;Almenara-Niebla & Ascanio-Sánchez, 2019;Belloni, 2019;Dhoest, 2019;Hunter, 2015;Leurs, 2016;Talhouk et al, 2019;Tanzanu, 2018). This may in fact lead to counterintuitive outcomes.…”