The Humanitarian Sector & Digital Identity: Are We Affecting Refugee’s Self-Identities?

The report explores the complex intersection of digital identification technologies and the sociological self-concept of displaced populations. Authored by Zoey Zhang and Andrej Verity, the study investigates whether mandatory digital IDs—often required for life-saving assistance—alter a refugee’s sense of belonging, culture, or nationalism. While digital identity provides essential access to services for the undocumented, the research highlights a critical tension: these systems can either empower individuals by recognizing their existence or further marginalize them through digital surveillance and "function creep".

From a sociological perspective, identity is multifaceted, shaped by social roles, cultural history, and collective commonalities. The report finds that while a person’s social situation changes drastically during displacement, there is no decisive evidence that a digital humanitarian ID fundamentally replaces or diminishes their primary self-identity. Instead, the impact is highly contextual. For example, Rohingya refugees have protested IDs that categorize them as "forcibly displaced" because it codifies their exclusion from both their home and host countries, effectively divesting their identity from their ethnicity and nation.

The report concludes with urgent recommendations for humanitarian organizations to move beyond technical efficiency and prioritize the psychological and societal well-being of end-users. It emphasizes that the success of digital identity is largely dependent on a host country’s political will and economic inclusiveness. Key suggestions include advocating for policies that allow refugees to access national civil services, improving transparency regarding data usage, and forming strategic partnerships with fields like Digital Sociology to better understand the long-term impacts of living in digital exile.