Your Phone Is Now a Refugee's Phone

"If you had to flee your country, what's the one piece of technology you would take with you?"

From BBC Media Action, this short film highlights the importance of information to refugees. Meant to be watched vertically on a mobile phone with headphones in, the film helps the viewer to experience with immediacy the confusion and fear facing refugees making a perilous journey by boat. "Your phone is now a refugee's phone. Text messages arrive from your family. Suddenly someone contacts you on WhatsApp warning you to turn back. But are they right? Your lifeline is a phone with no signal that's rapidly running out of battery."

The film is based on research conducted by BBC Media Action, in partnership with Development and Humanitarian Learning in Action (DAHLIA), to help humanitarian agencies be aware of the communication issues of refugees in transit. The research (see Related Summaries, below) found that access to internet, mobile networks, and social media are critical in helping people feel more informed and better connected.