Part of the Refugee Rights in Records initiative with UCLA’s Center for Information as Evidence, this project considers the use of emerging technologies such as blockchain to suit the needs of refugees moving across state borders. It considers how new blockchain applications, including non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized identities (DIDs) could work toward providing a more secure keep for personal records to sidestep problematic institutional issues and the physical and technical limitations of these technologies. Specifically, this project is interested in how personal records and financial needs of refugees are affected by these technologies.

Interviewees include immigration lawyers familiar with the refugee asylum process, current and former asylum-seeking refugees who have re-settled, NGOs that make use of the records of refugees to provide aid, and other players that guide refugees in their quest to negotiate the complicated process of displacement.