York U awarded $2.5M to investigate, mitigate impact of increasing digital surveillance on refugees

What the report says

GlobeNewswire reported that York University has received a $2.5 million Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Partnership Grant for a seven-year project examining the use of artificial intelligence and other digital tools in border control. The initiative, called the Algorithmic Justice for Refugees Research Network, will be led by Associate Professor Sean Rehaag of Osgoode Hall Law School and hosted by York’s Refugee Law Laboratory.

According to the July 22 release, the project will study how technologies such as biometric systems, automated decision-making, lie-detection tools, drones and data-driven movement prediction can affect refugees and other displaced people. York said the research will focus on risks including rights violations, limited oversight and the possibility that existing inequalities in refugee and immigration systems could be reinforced as governments and private companies expand border-security technologies.

The network is described as a global interdisciplinary partnership involving researchers from more than 12 universities, including institutions in Canada, Europe, Australia, South Africa and the Middle East, as well as community organizations in countries including Canada, Mexico and Uganda. Core partners include Migration + Tech Monitor in the United States and the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at the University of New South Wales in Australia.

York said the project will have two linked streams: one analyzing digital border governance through human-rights research, including contracts, bias, mapping and oversight options; and another developing open-source legal technology and data tools intended to support displaced communities, advocates and decision-makers. The release cited a 2024 UNHCR estimate that 120 million people had been forcibly displaced, underscoring the stakes of migration policy at a time of rapid technological change.