Mobile phone data reveal the effects of violence on internal displacement in Afghanistan
Abstract
Nearly 50 million people globally have been internally displaced due to conflict, persecution and human rights violations. However, the study of internally displaced persons—and the design of policies to assist them—is complicated by the fact that these people are often underrepresented in surveys and official statistics. We develop an approach to measure the impact of violence on internal displacement using anonymized high-frequency mobile phone data. We use this approach to quantify the short- and long-term impacts of violence on internal displacement in Afghanistan, a country that has experienced decades of conflict. Our results highlight how displacement depends on the nature of violence. High-casualty events, and violence involving the Islamic State, cause the most displacement. Provincial capitals act as magnets for people fleeing violence in outlying areas. Our work illustrates the potential for non-traditional data sources to facilitate research and policymaking in conflict settings.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- May 12, 2022
- Source ID
- 10.1038/s41562-022-01336-4
Entities
People
- Joshua Evan Blumenstock
- Shikhar Mehra
- Xiao Hui Tai
Organizations
- National Science Foundation
- Office of Naval Research Global