Research Information System
NECS–European Network for Cinema and Media Studies Conference, İzmir, Turkey, 27 June - 29 July 2024, (Unpublished)
ICTs-mediated Practices and Counter Strategies Developed by African Migrants in Times of Emergencies
A significant literature continues to emerge regarding the aspects in which Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) affect International Migration. According to the research conducted in this field, there are three distinct findings in relations to these studies regarding how migrants use ICTs to achieve specific goals. Firstly, migrants living transnational lives are able to maintain uninterrupted communication with their families and social networks remotely. Secondly, migrants' use of ICTs strengthens diasporic community formations. Thirdly, these technologies can provide a vital source of information regarding practical issues in the organization of migration journeys, such as destinations, routes and transport.
Although it is not recent to consider Türkiye as a transit route for migrants who want to cross Europe; after the refugee crisis in 2015, it came to the fore again and attracted academic attention. In the context of this crisis, academics conducted pioneering studies that draw attention to the strategic use of ICTs and revealed that smartphones and social media serve as a life-saving function in times of emergency through internet access, digital photography, video, Global Positioning System (GPS), applications and messaging functions.
This paper analyses qualitative methodological data collected among African migrants in Istanbul and Izmir after 2020. It aims to shed light on how ICTs provide vital support to migrants in times of emergencies, firstly in Istanbul, in the context of increasing police pressure and deportation cases and the resulting crisis of finding the resources to survive and staying psychologically healthy; and secondly in İzmir, in the context of the digital border control systems and the measures taken by the violent Greek police forces to prevent illegal border crossings. This paper makes an up-to-date contribution to the studies on the function of ICTs in migration process and the various counter strategies developed by migrants in times of emergencies.