The Slow Violence of the Asylum System: A Digital Device for Safety in Refugee Accommodations?

Technology is increasingly integrated into asylum procedures and migration management. In Germany, one example of this is the Violence Protection Monitor (VPM), a survey-based device developed to enhance safety in refugee accommodations. Through document analysis and qualitative interviews, this paper explores the tacit assumptions and policy agendas embedded into the VPM’s methodology, as well as the type of knowledge it produces and how this knowledge is prioritized.

The VPM’s purpose is to monitor violent incidents and protection measures related to important forms of violence—physical, psychological, sexual, and domestic. However, it may overlook the ‘slow violence’ that can occur during asylum processes, after rejection, or while awaiting alternative housing in a competitive market.

This paper explores the tension between potential outcomes of the VPM: on one hand, the production of data can help make otherwise marginalised groups, needs and sites visible; on the other hand, it can render the ‘slow violence’ of the asylum regime in Germany invisible by not focusing on this type of violence and its dynamics. This can, in turn, inadvertently legitimise the refugee accommodations within the asylum system, as knowledge produced through technology is often prioritized and granted authority. As technology transforms data into seemingly indisputable 'facts', it is critical to investigate how data are produced, how they enact policy problems, and how they influence power dynamics, ultimately shaping in/security in refugee accommodations.