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Rise of the high-tech border industry

AI, data analytics and drone surveillance are shaping refugees' futures

AI, data analytics and automated surveillance are ever more shaping refugees' futures around the world. From the external borders of the EU to the US-Mexico border, "smart border" solutions, developed by private companies for states, are being used to surveil and control people on the move. Lawyer and anthropologist Petra Molnar tells the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's Frey Lindsay how she's seen these technologies creep into borders and camps around the world, and Dr Emre Eren Korkmaz of Oxford University describes how this global "border industrial complex" has become hugely profitable for private companies. We'll also hear from a new high-tech refugee camp on the Greek island of Samos, where refugees feel oppressed and dehumanised by the litany of technology that surrounds them. Sae Bosco, of Samos Volunteers, explains that these technologies don't do much to protect people within the camp, despite the EU's claims. And Sarah Chander of European Digital Rights tells Frey that the EU appear aware of the harms algorithmic surveillance and control can bring to people, and so is moving to protect EU citizens, but not migrants.

(Picture: the Samos CCAC refugee camp. Picture credit: Getty Images)

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18 minutes

Last on

Fri 25 Mar 2022 08:32GMT

Broadcast

  • Fri 25 Mar 2022 08:32GMT

Podcast