Digitally dis/connected: How smartphones are changing the everyday experience of claiming asylum in the UK

By Hannah Morgan, University of Durham

Life as an individual seeking asylum in the UK or another Western European state can be full of fear, unknowns and uncertainties. Before a time when smartphones were common objects in our everyday lives, individuals seeking asylum often faced huge barriers to integration within new communities. Things we now take for granted such as learning a new language (even new dialects and accents), getting to grips with cultural norms, finding places to eat or buy food, or connecting with other people in the area were all momentous acts. Now, with a device that is never far from our fingertips, these acts are at the touch of a button, or swipe of a screen.

In my research, I explore what being a ‘digitally connected’ smartphone user does to the experience of waiting for asylum claims to be processed in the UK. From being able to contact your solicitor, to something as simple as playing a game online with friends, my research aims to capture the wide-ranging impacts that forms of smartphone life can have on the everyday experience of waiting.

Asylum seekers are digitally connected subjects, much like you or I

The media representation of asylum seekers or refugees owning mobile phones has shifted dramatically over the past 15 years. In the wake of the 2015 migration crisis, displaced individuals ‘caught’ taking selfies or charging their mobile phones were questioned heavily in public media and discourse. Rooted in the recurring legacies of colonial Othering, questions around what devices people owned, how they used them, and how they could afford to remain connected to them dominated Western European media.

Since then, smartphones have become contentious objects of truth-telling or cross-examination throughout asylum application processes in Europe. In multiple countries, including the UK, smartphones have been confiscated and searched for evidence in favour of denying a successful claim to asylum. Project Sunshine is one example that was retrospectively ruled unlawful by the UK’s High Court. On the other end of the spectrum, smartphones and smart-devices have also been used to hold states to account for inaction or their failings to provide safety.

But beyond punctual, geopolitical encounters with the spectacle of the border, the smartphone has also become a technology of everyday life. Much like European citizens, the smartphone is embedded in a vast range of everyday practices that have become so normal, we don’t even think about their importance in our daily lives. In my own research with over one hundred asylum seekers in the North East of England, only one or two individuals did not own or have access to a mobile phone.

Digital connection is an important part of everyday life

Much like for you or I, smartphones are important tools of everyday life for subjects seeking asylum across Europe. Some of the most obvious practices we might think about include keeping contact with family, being able to source information, and language translation.

However, it is also important that we do not limit our thinking about what asylum seekers do with their smartphones to preconceived ideas which revolve around the political categorisation of an individual as an asylum seeker. There are an expansive range of practices that are inseparable from what we might call ‘everyday life’ for those seeking sanctuary: practices that we might even, at first, think are trivial or unimportant. As I explore in my own PhD research, and something that the UNHCR have recently touched upon, practices of digital leisure are a core part of what it means to live digitally today. Even for individuals who are governed by exceptional force (such as those labelled as asylum seekers), forms of digital leisure are a necessary part of everyday life. From sending videos and music, to self-tracking practices, to engaging in romance or friendship making, the smartphone has become intrinsic to living a life beyond and with the systems that often cause harm or inflict violence.

Participatory mapping session, author provided.

Digital dis/connection is contingent

Now, this does not mean that asylum seekers are ‘connected’ seamlessly. In fact, despite most asylum seekers having access to a smartphone device, being able to stay connected to smartphone infrastructures is one of the most challenging aspects of everyday life, especially in the context of the UK’s cost-of-living crisis.

One of the major challenges that asylum seekers face is buying and maintaining access to SIM data plans. When receiving £49.18 a week from the UK government (or £8.86 a week if in hotel accommodation), buying SIM data is often the last priority in a list of food, toiletries, clothes and travel. But, not having data can have disastrous consequences: missed calls from solicitors, unable to contact local charities or helplines, and losing vital connections to friends and family. This means that individuals often have to negotiate multiple priorities to remain connected through their smartphone devices. For some, this means saving money on supermarket shops or foregoing things such as deodorant or shower gel. For others, it can be as extreme as selling and re-buying their phones from a pawnbroker.

There are multiple initiatives on a national and local level set up to help asylum seekers access mobile data. But often they can fall short of on-the-ground need: too little data to last the month, short-term provision, or requiring individuals to trade personal data collection for the free SIM. One of the main conclusions that arose from my interviews was that short-term SIM plans commonly given out by charities are not enough to sustain the everyday digital lives of those seeking asylum; often offering short-term contracts (e.g. one month) or little data (e.g. five to ten gigabytes). Arising from these conclusions, one of the short-term practical outcomes of my PhD research was partnering with Vodafone and their charities.connected data programme. In the final months of my research, I worked to secure 400 SIM cards loaded with 40gb of data recurring for six months. This is by no means a long-term solution for the need for digital connection, but is a start for research that is aimed at creating fairer and more sustainable access to digital forms of living.

Digital connection is not always positive

Despite the importance of the smartphone in the everyday lives of asylum seekers, this does not mean that digital connection is always beneficial. My recently published article in Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers highlights this contradiction. In the article, I explore how forms of waiting become central to how the UK state controls their digital relationship with individuals seeking asylum. By looking at forms of delay, pauses and voids in forms of contact with the UK state such as national helplines and solicitors, I highlight how the smartphone becomes embedded within the production of violence.

Moreover, we might think about how forms of digital connection can have negative impacts in other ways. One common example that people spoke about in my research was social media burnout, or the pressures to remain connected to family and friends back home: the pressure to highlight the ‘good life’, respond to messages, or keep in contact with time differences. All of these different pressures remind us that digital connection is neither seamless nor completely emancipatory.

As a takeaway reflection, the findings from my research push us to think critically about who we assume is a ‘digital subject’ and what it looks like in the everyday context. Often, our preconceived ideas about what the ‘asylum seeker’ does or wants to do on their phone looks very similar to you or I. And, in the same breath, we must pay attention to the issues that come with being a digitally connected asylum seeker, both in terms of the barriers and unforeseen harms that digital connection within the asylum system can cause.

About the author: Hannah Morgan is a ESRC PhD Researcher at the University of Durham.

How To Cite

Morgan, H. (2024, June) Digitally dis/connected: How smartphones are changing the everyday experience of claiming asylum in the UK. Geography Directions. https://doi.org/10.55203/PMDL8180