Digital media and forced migration: Critical media education for and about refugees

Recent UNHCR (2015) figures indicate that 21.3 million people were identified as refugees in 2015 and that these numbers are the highest in the world since World War II.1 The vast majority of these individuals, 86 %, seek refuge within low-resource or “developing” countries neighboring areas of conflict. In 2015, there was an influx of over 1 million refugees traveling hazardous routes to get to Europe from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq, among other countries. 25 % of these refugees were children (ibid.). The current role of media as a tool for teaching and learning among young people – children, adolescents, and young adults – who are refugees, as well as about the current refugee crisis for non-refugee young people, is both critical and complicated.

This article explains how digital media can be used in critical ways to promote engagement with content about the refugee crisis among young people. Furthermore, the role of digital media in the lives of refugee children is explored.