TRACKED: Stories at the Intersection of Migration, Technology, and Human Rights

CSIS Report By Lauren Burke, Anastasia Strouboulis, Erol Yayboke, and Marti Flacks

Hundreds of millions of people cross borders every year. They are fleeing violence, escaping persecution, joining family, and pursuing jobs abroad.

But whether they travel by land, air, or sea, these migrants encounter technologies designed to help governments manage who is coming to or passing through their countries. These technologies collect several types of migrant data.

CSIS explored some of the technologies migrants encounter during their journeys as well as the human rights implications of their use. Analyzing what motivates governments to deploy technology, and how destination countries in Europe and North America influence that decision-making, is critical to understanding the implications of these decisions on migrant rights. 

To understand how widespread the use of these technologies is, CSIS has created two realistic yet fictional migrants, Ana and Mariama, who encounter them firsthand on their journeys across Central America and West and North Africa.

Read the full digital report here.