Language and literacy in Rohingya refugees’ use of phones and the internet

Forced Migration, Use of Smart Phones and the Role of Language presents our research into the role of language and literacy in Rohingya refugees’ use of phones and the internet. We are likely to either revise this paper or to produce other papers which report on further analysis.

Acknowledgements

This research would not have been possible without the cooperation and support of Penang Stop Human Trafficking Campaign (PSHTC) and the refugees who work with them in Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. PSHTC played an important role in informing the research design and analysis of findings, organising the workshops for Rohingya refugees and helping us to collect materials from the participants within a tight timescale. We are grateful to the refugee participants for their active engagement in the workshop activities.

We are also grateful to the secretariat of Kanita, the Centre for Research in Women and Gender in Universiti Sains Malaysia for planning and organising a successful two-day stakeholder event, also within a limited time period. This enabled the findings and implications of the study to be shared and informed through a wide range of stakeholders, including refugees based in other parts of Malaysia, key government and humanitarian agencies in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia and academics working in the field of migration.

Thanks are also due to Heriot Watt University’s Global Challenges Research Fund for funding this project, and to Dr. Janey Andrews and Ms Catalina Bastidas for their enthusiasm and help at key stages of this project.

Finally, our thanks go to our families for their support and understanding.

This Project was supported by Heriot Watt’s Global Challenges Research Fund.