17/11: Webinar RACE, TECH & BORDERS – A Conversation with Special Rapporteur Tendayi Achiume

Governments around the world increasingly deploy digital technologies in the context of border enforcement and administration, compounding concerns around privacy abuses, discrimination and exclusion related to citizenship and legal status. National security and counterterrorism are major drivers and often used as a catchall justification for these developments.

In this online event, facilitated by the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, Open Society Justice Initiative, Amnesty International, Migration and Technology Monitor, and the Promise Institute for Human Rights, Kenyan writer and activist Nanjala Nyabola will engage Special Rapporteur Tendayi Achiume in conversation to mark the launch of her report ‘Race, Tech & Borders’.

The report will be presented before the UN General Assembly in early November. It highlights the findings the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism has gathered through conversations with activists, academic researchers, local communities, and non-governmental organizations on the issue of racial discrimination and related intolerance resulting from the use of digital technologies in border enforcement and administration. The conversation with Tendayi Achiume will also provide an opportunity for reflection on related issues such as the growing phenomenon of citizenship deprivation as a national security measure, and experience of the Rohingya community with borders and technology.

The conversation will be joined by Jaivet Ealom, a Rohingya activist and professional working for a social enterprise that develops software and apps for crisis relief. Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, will provide a special commentary on the issue of discrimination and technology in the context of national security.

The conversation will be followed by a Q&A.

Register here for the event.