AFAR researchers, selected civil society partners, and UN representatives gathered at the Hertie School to showcase the project’s academic outputs and reflect on the political and societal implications of its findings.
On 18 and 19 September, the four-year collaborative project Algorithmic Fairness for Asylum Seekers and Refugees (AFAR), hosted at the Centre for Fundamental Rights and funded by the Volkswagen Foundation, culminated in a two-day final conference. In her welcome address, Violeta Moreno-Lax, Professor of International Law at the Hertie School and Director of the Centre for Fundamental Rights, highlighted how the project advances the centre’s mission of solution-oriented research, from mapping automation in migration decision-making to creating the Tech Litigation Database and contributing to UN-level debates on digital border technologies.
Co-convenor of the conference Cathryn Costello, Full Professor of Global Refugee and Migration Law at the Sutherland School of Law, University College Dublin, and the project’s Principal Investigator at the Hertie School, emphasised that although AFAR’s formal project life is coming to an end, its influence will continue through the next generation of scholars it has trained and through the tools and collaborations it leaves behind.
From “techno-optimism” to sober reflections on digital borders
The conference opened with a keynote address by Dr Matt Mahmoudi, Assistant Professor at the University of Cambridge and Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights Adviser at Amnesty International. In his talk, titled “Algorithms as Borders: Race, Border and Capital Entanglements”, Mahmoudi drew on his new book Digital Periphery: New Urban Frontiers of Control (University of California Press, 2025), which examines how digital infrastructures are increasingly reshaping migration governance and urban life.
Moving beyond what he described as “techno-optimism” – the rush to embrace automated systems – Mahmoudi urged participants to reflect soberly on how such technologies are being deployed without adequate oversight, particularly when it comes to marginalised migrant communities. These shifts, he argued, are not abstract: they determine in practice who is recognised, who is excluded, and who is subjected to intensified scrutiny.
Drawing on case studies from New York City and Berlin, Mahmoudi showed how algorithmic systems, often introduced under the banner of efficiency or inclusion, can have the opposite effect. Smart kiosks designed to streamline public services or apps built for refugees have sometimes entrenched precariousness, creating new channels of surveillance and reinforcing racialised inequalities. He cautioned against what he called “digital ghettoisation”, where resources flow towards technological quick fixes that align with institutional or corporate interests rather than addressing the lived needs of displaced communities.
Second day of AFAR Conference spotlights research output and real-life implications
The second day of the conference shifted the focus from broad reflections to in-depth research presentations by AFAR’s scholars, alongside contributions from civil society partners and UN representatives. Over the course of a full day at the Hertie School, participants examined themes ranging from questions of fairness in digital immigration status systems to the risks posed by predictive tools in refugee status determination. By placing AFAR’s academic findings in dialogue with frontline legal and advocacy work, the second day underscored the project’s commitment to linking research with practice.
You can view a recording of the keynote address below.