The chaotic evacuation of Afghanistan shone a fresh light on the plight of refugees. While most of the attention was given to the numbers evacuated (or not), that is only the start of their challenge, as successfully integrating into their new home is anything but straightforward.

Research from Flinders University highlights how important technology can be in helping them adapt, especially during Covid where things like contact tracing apps are so important.  Nonetheless, the authors highlight how significant gaps exist in terms of digital inclusion, particularly among women and children.

Digital devices are increasingly important, whether for providing access to education, learning the host language, or searching, applying, and even undertaking work opportunities.  The research is the second edition of an ongoing analysis of social and civic participation among new refugees in Australia.

Engaging with digital

The research builds on the first edition of the research, which was conducted in 2019.  This showed that refugees were highly engaged with digital tools to help them maintain connectivity with friends and family both locally and in their homeland.

There were nonetheless challenges for refugees in accessing and utilizing these tools, with this especially problematic for women.  The 2nd edition of the research focuses on refugee women to gain a deeper understanding of their digital lives.

In total, 418 women were spoken to, all of whom spoke Arabic, with the women having lived in Australia for an average of 24 months, with most arriving in 2018.

Among the sample, 95% had access to the web in their home, with 88% saying they had sufficient data allowance to fully utilize this connectivity.  This meant their internet usage was comparable to that of the wider community.

Digital devices

These refugee households also tended to have higher mobile phone ownership than other Australian households, with this even more so when looking at smaller communities.  This again reflects the importance of connectivity to friends and family as well as access to information.  It was, however, less common for refugees to have access to other digital devices, such as laptops or tablets.

This is less positive as such devices are often crucial for education and it runs counter to the trend across the wider Australian community, which is more likely to have access to such devices.  Instead, families often report having to juggle a limited number of devices to allow both adults and children to access education successfully.

There was also a slight gender divide, with women less likely to access the internet than men, regardless of whether it was for banking, health services, education, or social services.  They also expressed greater difficulties in navigating the support that was available online.

With a desire for greater support in terms of accessing and using digital technology common in the groups spoken to by the researchers, it is perhaps something for refugee assistance programs to consider so that they can best support people as they attempt to successfully integrate into their new homes.