Research calls for document portability to tackle legal ID crisis facing migrants

Researchers have urged countries to build interoperable, resilient, and family-sensitive foundational identity storage systems in order to better respond to the barrage of legal identity challenges which millions of migrants and other forcibly displaced persons face in the world today.

This is the central idea of a study titled “Children and Families’ Experiences with Document Portability, Security and Verification During Forced Migration.” It is based on an analysis of interviews with 90 families that fled Afghanistan, Syria and Ukraine. More than 122 million people in the world were estimated to be forcibly displaced as of last year.

The research gives an idea of the struggles these families went through having to take along some of their important life documents such as birth certificates, identity cards, health and academic credentials, as they moved to their new destinations.

According to the report, states continue to use what it describes as “bureaucratic borders,” sometimes by requiring documents which migrant populations do not physical have either due to loss, damage, or confiscation.

In many situations, the lack of proof of identity or nationality becomes a matter of life or death, which can obstruct access to asylum and essential services like healthcare and education in the receiving country.

The research finds that many identity systems currently are out of tune with inclusive mobility governance as they keep migrants completely out of legal frameworks. It mentions that even advanced systems like Ukraine’s Diia app which has been attracting much attention often fail to work across international borders, which demonstrates the fact that digital innovation must be matched by cross-border policy awareness and interoperability.  A recent report by Caribou Digital also found that policy gaps were the primary reason why digital ID systems fail migrants.

As a way out, the study makes a strong advocacy for document portability which it describes as the physical and digital transportation of records and their accessibility across borders. The idea comes at a time when there’s also much talk about data portability as countries move to strengthen their digital ID stacks.

Portability, according to the report, will enable families fleeing their original countries to better handle risk management across time, mitigate chances of document loss or confiscation, as well as maintain family integration and unity. The report also proposes that such interoperable storage systems must be able to function offline and have low-tech resilience, and have privacy and security by design.

Meanwhile, the report also notes that humanitarian organizations must move toward family-sensitive and rights-based models that recognize document portability as a dynamic practice essential for the psychosocial resilience of displaced populations

The report comes at a time when concerns continue to grow bout mobility governance round the world. At the 2026 ID4Africa AGM in May, the Deputy Director at the UNHCR’s International Protection and Solutions Division, Dr Patrick Eba, pressed on the need for more inclusive national ID systems, stronger legal safeguards and deeper integration between civil registration and foundational identity infrastructure to provide legal identity for millions of people who currently have no nationality.

In a later interview with Biometric Update, Eba emphasised the critical role of digital public infrastructure (DPI) and foundational national identity systems in protecting refugees and stateless persons.

He said their inclusion in these systems is not just a technological issue but a moral and legal imperative rooted in values, as well s something that comes with economic gins not just for the forcibly displaced persons but also their host communities.

“The inclusion of refugees and stateless persons in foundational national identity system is not just the right thing to do. It is also the economically smart thing to do,” he asserted.

Speaking further on the economic and development benefits, Eba cited a joint research with the World Bank on the Shona community in Kenya which revealed that providing identity documentation and recognition for vulnerable people led to transformative benefits, lifting the entire community’s well-being and development.

Article Topics

cross-border data sharing  |  digital ID  |  government services  |  identity document  |  interoperability  |  legal identity  |  refugee registration  |  SDG 16.9