Mobile phones: An indispensable tool for migrants

“Sometimes I have to choose between food and internet connectivity, to keep in touch with my family back home. When I need money, I make a call to them via WhatsApp, and they send it very quickly.” This is how Mamadou, a 22-year-old from Niger, sums up the key role that smartphones now play in the lives of migrants. The fact that refugees can spend up to a third of their budget on internet access – according to the Rabat office of the UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency – is proof of how important these portable devices are.