Digital Evidence in Refugee Status Determination

Bibliographic Data

ID4854873
AuthorsWilliam Hamilton Byrne (0000-0002-6851-0344, University of Copenhagen), Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen (0000-0003-1518-137X, University of Copenhagen)
Year2024
Volume118
Pages62-66
Publication date2024-01-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAJIL Unbound (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2398-7723 • E-ISSN: 2398-7723
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/aju.2024.6
OpenAlexW4392172464
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited1

Digital evidence is rapidly emerging as a tool for migration authorities in refugee status determination (RSD)-the procedure for determining whether a person meets the criteria for protection as a "refugee." Its growing popularity may be seen as a response to the relative dearth of "hard" evidence in asylum procedures, where decisions often hinge exclusively on the applicant's personal narrative and assessment of her credibility. In this essay, we critically examine the growing use of digital evidence in RSD by authorities and the human rights concerns that arise from some of these practices. We then move to outline some examples of how digital evidence might also present new opportunities for scholars, practitioners, and asylum seekers themselves, helping to substantiate claims and document underlying inequities in existing RSD practices. In the process, we seek to navigate a balance between the techno-solutionism that hails digital evidence as a panacea and those a priori dismissing digitization as techno-hype and inherently problematic

Computer security · Credibility · Digital evidence · Digital forensics · Digitization · Epistemology · Evidence-based practice · Internet privacy · Narrative · Political science · Popularity · Public relations · Refugee · Rigour · Sociology · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · Computer Science · Internet Traffic Analysis and Secure E-voting · Law · Medicine · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Psychology

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