A rapid increase in inequality worldwide has led to mass displacement and migration. Coupled with a new era of nascent, experimental, Tesla-esque technology, countless human rights violations occur at the world’s borders every day.
Border tech is the umbrella term for a series of technologies rolled out across borders and in countries to control who and what is coming in or going out of a country.
What this looks like, in practice, is AI-driven algorithms that determine who gets into a country and who doesn’t. The problem with using AI is that it is trained on human behaviour, which more often than not has biases. These algorithms cement and perpetuate these biases, creating a feedback loop that cannot be broken since there is no human input to lead change. Take, for example, the “triaging system” used by the UK Home Office between 2015 and 2020, which used a colour coding system that flagged certain applicants from “suspect nationalities” with higher risk. Since the system flagged more people from these nationalities, naturally, more people were found to pose a threat to the UK. The algorithm sees that more people from these nationalities pose a threat and generates increasingly biased predictions targeting these nationalities. In short, “bias from the past leads to bias in the future.”
Furthermore, new and experimental forms of AI at borders are increasingly shown to simply not work. For example, Germany’s use of voice-recognition software to attempt to detect Arabic speakers’ country of origin has been shown to display huge gaps in accuracy for certain dialects of Arabic and Persian dialects. AI-powered lie detectors, funded by the EU, used for three years on the borders of Greece, Latvia and Hungary, incorrectly flagged 27 per cent of innocent travellers as deceptive. This meant many people fleeing unsafe circumstances were wrongly turned away at EU borders.
Another form of border tech is biometric surveillance systems, which use facial recognition, iris scans, and fingerprints to verify migrant’s identities. These systems, often touted as secure and foolproof, are anything but. Studies have shown that they are far more likely to misidentify people of colour, leading to wrongful detentions and deportations.
Worse, the data collected doesn’t stay at the border. It can be shared across multiple government agencies, often without the consent of the individuals involved. Once collected, it’s nearly impossible to know where your data has ended up, posing a huge threat to people’s right to privacy.
This was the case in 2021 when the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) shared biometric information from Rohingya refugees with Bangladesh, who then gave it to Myanmar, the very country the Rohingya refugees had fled.
States around the world are also militarising their borders, enabled by technology. This militarisation treats migrants and asylum seekers as criminals when they should be treated with empathy. The US Border with Mexico, for example, includes a network of 55 security towers equipped with cameras, heat sensors, motion sensors, and other so-called “smart” border technologies. Often, this technology appears to serve very little purpose outside of intimidation, such as the case of the “robotic patrol dogs,” equipped with attached sniper rifles, which were tested at the US border in 2022.
These militarised border technologies may contribute to an increase in migrant deaths by pushing people on the move to take more dangerous routes to avoid detection or interception. In 2022, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported a record 895 human remains recovered in the expansive desert terrains on the U.S. side of the border. Similarly, 2024 has been the deadliest year for people on the move drowning in the Mediterranean Sea.
So what do we do? How do we cultivate hope? Surprisingly, one way forward is through technology. Many civil society groups have created chatbots to aid migrants with legal information, mental health support, and translation services. The refugee law lab utilises AI to analyse Canadian refugee cases, supporting immigration lawyers in advocating for their clients.
Other ways we can help include challenging the harmful nexus between border militarization and tech surveillance by advocating for more humane and transparent migration policies. Additionally, we can support grassroots organizations that fight against surveillance-based border policies, such as Surveillance Resistance Lab, Mijente, and Just Futures Law.
Overall, we must remember that seeking asylum is a human right. Imagine being forced to flee your home, only to be met with sniper-robot dogs and surveillance towers at the border. We must not allow the tech industry or border authorities to dehumanise and criminalise migrants in the name of security. Instead, we must advocate for humane, rights-based policies that recognise the dignity of everyone seeking safety and a new life.
Photo by Phil Mosley on Unsplash
