Every year, thousands of men, women and children are forced to leave their homes, seeking refuge in the UK primarily due to an escalation of conflict, violence or persecution in their home country. They are forced to make dangerous journeys in search of safety and a better life. The terms ‘refugee’ and ‘asylum seeker’ are used to describe the individuals who have left their countries. An asylum seeker is someone who has applied for asylum and is awaiting a decision on whether they will be granted refugee status. A refugee is someone who felt their risk to life was so great, they had no choice but to seek safety outside their own country, and have been granted to stay (Amnesty International, 2024).

In 2023, 67,337 applications for asylum were made in the UK and the total asylum caseload has more than doubled in size since 2014 (Sturge, 2024). In the year ending December 2023, the top five countries of origin of people seeking asylum in the UK were Afghanistan, Iran, India, Pakistan and Turkey (Refugee Council, 2023). 

One of the challenges facing asylum seekers and refugees in the UK is limited digital literacy and skills. Digital literacy is the ability to navigate, evaluate, and communicate information online or in a digital format (Adobe, 2024). 75% of refugees come from low and middle income countries, and 20% live in the least developed countries in the world. While mobile broadband covers 95% of the global population, 3.5 billion people are still not using mobile internet and 95% of them live in low and middle income countries (Service, 2023). This means that many refugees and asylum seekers have poor levels of digital literacy, along with linguistic and cultural barriers hindering their use of technology. Such fragmented knowledge may prevent them from performing digital tasks needed in everyday life, putting them at a disadvantage and impacting their integration into society. 

The importance of digital literacy and skills for refugees

Digital technologies have advanced rapidly and can be a catalyst for positive change, but only when individuals have the digital literacy and skills to participate equally. For refugees, technology can be a vehicle of self-reliance, and a valuable source of information. Some examples of where digital skills are vital are outlined below. 

Continued technological innovation is changing the nature of healthcare services in the UK, with the NHS long term plan aiming to increase the range of digital health tools and services, to provide faster and safer care (NHS, 2019). This means medical records, test results and appointment bookings will all be online, requiring some digital skills. For refugees in the UK, they will need to use technology to seek healthcare support or find health-related information. 61% of refugees and asylum seekers will experience severe mental distress and they are more likely to have poor mental health (Mental Health Foundation, 2022). Therefore, it is crucial they have access to mental health support online. 

Once an asylum seeker has been granted refugee status, they have permission to look for work in the UK. However, 80% of job vacancies in the UK require digital skills (Zorgle, 2023). This can present a challenge both in securing and retaining work, along with employment gaps on their CV, lack of UK work experience and English proficiency. According to Potocky (2022), most of the difficulties encountered by refugees in completing work are language and cultural barriers, including spelling, grammatical errors and misunderstanding. Barriers that can be helped with use of the correct digital tools. 

Education plays a vital role in ensuring refugee children have stability, and the opportunity to build a better future in their new community. Equally, it protects children from forced recruitment and child labour (The UN Refugee Agency, 2024). The COVID-19 pandemic led to UK schools using digital technology to deliver virtual lessons from home. Schools continue to integrate technology into teaching methods to familiarise students with the skills they will need in their future careers. This means it’s important that refugee children have the digital skills to participate. 

Digital literacy is a key feature of social inclusion and is a vital proficiency in order to be a fully active member of society. Many resettled refugees will be navigating their new country while maintaining a connection with their former home. Digital technology is invaluable to stay up to date with news online, use social media to form new connections, remain in touch with friends and family and understand their new host community through information online. 

Barriers to digital

There are multiple factors that can result in refugees having limited digital skills and as a result, become digitally excluded. Firstly, there is a strong correlation between socio-economic conditions and experiences of digital exclusion, meaning refugees may struggle with accessing the internet or digital devices, due to a low income or unemployment (Princewell Esenowo, 2022). Despite technology advancements, and more accessible machine translation features, linguistic barriers can still prevent non-native speakers from fully accessing digital content. Individuals may also experience discrimination and xenophobia online due to their refugee status. This is a result of pre-existing racial beliefs, where they are perceived to not belong in society (Nations, 2024). Finally, there is a lack of awareness of the culturally appropriate digital support opportunities available in their local communities. Having early support during resettlement assists refugees to gain a sense of control and independence (UNHCR, 2024). 

Staying safe online

Low digital literacy can not only prevent use of digital technology, but increases exposure to digital risks. This can vary based on factors including gender, age and skills. Firstly, border controls are becoming digitised in ways that could put asylum seekers at risk if important information is deployed in insecure ways, or if algorithms produce biased results (United Nations Human Rights, 2023). Vulnerability is seen as an opportunity for exploitation and the internet can be a platform for getting access to personal information. As refugees may not always be up-to-date or aware of data protection measures, their personal safety can be at risk. This exposes them to cyber threats, scams and phishing, manipulation, online abuse - often involving social media. There is also the risk of disinformation (information that is false or deliberately created to harm a person) and misinformation (information that is false with the intention of causing harm) - that is being disseminated digitally. 

The United Nations Refugee Digital Transformation Strategy Digital Strategy 

The United Nations Refugee Digital Transformation Strategy aims to provide a unified vision and approach to realising the rights of refugees with regards to digital inclusion and protection. Ensuring communities can safely engage in today's digital world and achieve greater self-reliance and protection. Learn more about it on their website. 

Make More

At Make More we work to create a fairer society, by providing tailored digital support services for all abilities.

Find out more on our website: https://www.make-more.org

Reference list

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Amnesty International (2024). Refugees, asylum-seekers and Migrants. [online] Amnesty International. Available at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/refugees-asylum-seekers-and-migrants/.

Mental Health Foundation (2022). Refugees and Asylum seekers: Statistics. [online] www.mentalhealth.org.uk. Available at: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/explore-mental-health/statistics/refugees-asylum-seekers-statistics.

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