In the current issue of FITISPOS International Journal entitle “The Human Factor in Public Service Interpreting Training - PSIT” (Vol. 8 No. 1 /2021), the open access article by María Jimenez Andrés from UAB University, presents the results of REBUILD focus groups discussions with refugees and asylum-seekers in Greece, Italy and Spain. The article discusses the information seeking practices of asylum seekers and refugees, in online and offline environments and their use of ICT for information and communication purposes.
In today’s migration processes, Information Communication Technologies (ICT) are increasingly important for refugee experiences and mobilities (Gillespie, Osseiran and Cheesman, 2016). In this light, there is a call by institutions such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2016a; 2020a) and researchers in the field of refugee integration (AbuJarour et al, 2019) for initiatives employing ICT to cater for refugees’ need for information and communication. This article discusses some information seeking practices of asylum seekers and refugees, in online and offline environments. The data was gathered by means of nine focus group discussions with refugee communities in Greece, Italy, and Spain, involving a total of 41 participants of 13 different nationalities. Issues relating to the languages and the accessibility of the information that is available to them are discussed. The results of this research will inform the subsequent phases of REBUILD, a project funded by European Commission whose aim is the creation of a user-centred ICT-tool to promote refugee and migrant integration in Europe.
Publication Details:
Name of journal: Fitispos International Journal
Author(s): María Jimenez Andrés
Submission: 02/12/2020
Publication: 27/04/2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37536/FITISPos-IJ.2021.8.1.270
Keywords: Accessibility, information seeking practices, language barriers, translation and interpreting
María Jiménez-Andrés is a predoctoral researcher in the Department of Translation, Interpreting and East Asian Studies at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Spain). She is member of TransMedia Catalonia Research Group
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FITISPOS International Journal (FITISPOS-IJ) is a multilingual and free access online journal funded in 2014 by FITISPOS-UAH Research Group: Training and research in public services translation and interpreting (Grupo de investigación FITISPos-UAH: Formación e Investigación en Traducción e Interpretación en los Servicios Públicos in Spanish) at the University of Alcalá (Spain).