Karl Steinacker has worked for the UNHCR for more than 30 years in Congo, Sierra Leone and Niger, as well as the headquarters in Switzerland. In a guest article in German newspaper Die Zeit, Steinacker argued for a wider use of biometric registration for migrants and refugees.

Many people who were forced from their homes may not always have important papers with them, such as identification cards or medical records, due to the stresses of fleeing from war. A digital system would make it much easier to keep track of the more than 65 million migrants and refugees currently on the run around the world, Steinacker argues.  

Medical records 

With biometric tracking in a cloud, it would make it much easier to keep identity records for migrants and refugees, no matter where they are, says Steinacker. The lack of identification papers has made it a logistical nightmare for authorities in the countries of arrival trying to process the asylum seekers, in particular in Germany, where over one million refugees arrived and filed applications. 

Steinacker adds that the UNHCR offers refugee ID cards that are not printed on paper, which would be easy to forge, but on what he considers counterfeit-proof plastic cards.

Not so fast

While a digital system would be helpful for the tens of millions of migrants and refugees, any system can have potential problems, especially when it comes to security and privacy, Steinacker argues.

Any digital system can potentially be hacked. Attacks such as the WannaCry ransomware attack last year, are a constant threat to major organizations with sensitive information. And the threat of attack is not only on the digital side. With any new technology or development to prevent counterfeiters, there will always be thieves who try to create similar, yet fake cards.