In 2007, as the US government was introducing HIIDE in Afghanistan, US Marine Corps were walling off Fallujah in Iraq to supposedly deny insurgents freedom of movement. The Rohingya, like the Afghan refugees, were instructed to register their biometrics to receive and access aid in conflict areas. However, reports recently emerged that the UNHCR shared this data with the government of Bangladesh, who subsequently shared it with the Myanmar government to identify individuals for possible repatriation (all without the Rohingya’s consent). However, as communications scholar Mirca Madianou argues, iris recognition has an error rate of 2% to 3%, suggesting that roughly 11,800 claimants out of the alleged false claimants were wrongly denied aid.Īdditionally, since 2018, the UNHCR has collected biometric data from Rohingya refugees. From March to October 2002, 396,000 false claimants were turned away from receiving aid. The UNHCR was so confident in the use of biometrics that it altogether decided not to allow disputes from refugees. The technology was used to identify individuals who sought funds “ more than once.” If the algorithm matched a new entry to a pre-existing iris record, the claimant was refused aid. In 2002, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) introduced iris-recognition technology during the repatriation of more than 1.5 million Afghan refugees from Pakistan. We are familiar with biometric technology through mobile features like Apple’s Touch ID or Samsung’s fingerprint scanner, or by engaging with facial recognition systems while passing through international borders.įor many people located in conflict zones or who rely on humanitarian aid in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, biometrics are presented as a secure measure for accessing resources and services to fulfill their most basic needs. These stops sometimes resulted in hostage situations and executions carried out by the Taliban. In 20, the Taliban stopped passenger buses across the country to conduct biometric checks of all passengers to determine whether there were government officials on the bus. Inspired by the US biometrics system, the Afghan government began work to establish a national ID card, collecting biometric data from university students, soldiers and passport and driver license applications.Īlthough it remains uncertain at this time whether the Taliban has captured HIIDE and if it can access the aforementioned biometric information of individuals, the risk to those whose data is stored on the system is high. There, the “US Army Commander’s Guide to Biometrics in Afghanistan” advised officials to “ be creative and persistent in their efforts to enrol as many Afghans as possible.” The guide recognized that people may hesitate to provide their personal information and therefore, officials should “frame biometric enrolment as a matter of ‘protecting their people.’” US soldiers stand guard behind barbed wire as Afghans sit on a roadside near the military part of the airport in Kabul on August 20, 2021, hoping to flee from the country after the Taliban’s military takeover of Afghanistan. In a May 2021 report, anthropologist Nina Toft Djanegara illustrates how the collection and use of biometrics by the US military in Iraq set the precedent for similar efforts in Afghanistan. Often described as the most secure method of verifying an individual’s identity, biometric data are being used by governments and organizations to verify and grant citizens and clients access to personal information, finances and accounts.Īccording to a 2007 presentation by the US Army’s Biometrics Task Force, HIIDE collected and matched fingerprints, iris images, facial photos and biographical contextual data of persons of interest against an internal database. These include facial features, voice patterns, fingerprints or iris features. Building biometric databasesīiometric data, or simply biometrics, are unique physical or behavioral characteristics that can be used to identify a person. This development is the latest in many incidents that exemplify why governments and international organizations cannot yet securely collect and use biometric data in conflict zones and in their crisis responses.
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