Smartphones can be such a lifeline for refugees that a survey at one camp recently suggested access to a phone, and a data plan, was a more urgent need than healthcare and better housing options.

They play a key role for people whose lives have been uprooted – allowing them to keep in touch with family and friends, to get money and to try to find out where they might go.

Project director Ben Hounsell, in a report for migration specialists Samuel Hall, says smartphone ownership at the Kakuma refugee camp in Northern Kenya, at 44 percent, is far higher than the overall figure for people in Kenya, of 15 percent.

It is the same story at the Nakivale refugee settlement in South West Uganda, where 27 percent of people have a smartphone, compared with the 4 percent ownership figure for Uganda overall.

 

Refugee uses of smartphones

1)      To help plan where to go to and a route to get to the refugee camp safely

2)      Keeping in touch with family and friends

3)      To get money, and to send money

4)      To buy goods and services

5)      Education – i.e. learning a new language

6)      To find work

7)      A good source of entertainment – video platforms such as YouTube

8)      To report issues in the refugee camp to the United Nations high commissioner for refugees (UNHCR)

There has been a developing market in apps designed to help refugees – but Hounsell says there is currently a digital divide, even though the Kakuma camp, home to 174,000 refugees, has full mobile connectivity.

"While sub-Saharan Africa hosts around a quarter of the world's refugee population, less than 5 percent of the apps developed for refugees have been designed to support those on the continent," he tells CGTN Europe.

"In contrast, Europe hosts a considerably smaller number of refugees, but around 65 percent of all the apps developed for refugees serve those living in European countries, Hounsell adds. "This means mobile devices are not being used to their full potential by refugees on the African continent."

More needs to be done to adapt or develop new apps that address their specific needs, Hounsell says.

His suggestions are for more ICT learning centers within refugee camps, so younger refugees can get access to online education and for government and humanitarian organizations to work together to improve mobile reception, encourage cheaper data plans and ensure there are reliable electricity supplies.

He also says it will not just be the refugees that benefit – the research suggests the ability to get financial service on smartphones in the Kakuma camp has boosted the economy of nearby Kakuma town.