Perpetual links : the role of mobile telecommunications for sub-Saharan immigrants in Malta

Abstract

The mobile phone, with its portability and multi-functionality is a communicative gadget, the use of which brings about subsequent changes in various social contexts. The use of the mobile phone in sociology is mostly perceived either as an Apparatgeist (Katz and Aakhus, 2002), shaping social change, or a portable house' ( Castells et al. 2007; lto, 2005) affected d by social change. ln Malta this technology has become an indispensable possession not only for Maltese people but also for the sub-Saharan immigrants residing in Malta. The sub-Saharan migrants in Malta suffer marginalisation by a society which is not so tolerant towards them. In this research the focus will be on the use and meaning of the mobile for a group of these migrants. The qualitative research consisted of fifteen face-to-face semi-structured interviews with Sub-Saharan immigrants who have been residing in Malta in the past five years. This research, partly conducted with administrators within the Marsa Open Centre, served to uncover the role of mobile telephony in the migrants' journey to and settlement process in Malta, and their role in shaping its use. Social contact is crucial for migrants who might have no connections in a society in which they find themselves in, sometimes inadvertently. Diverse communication tools were used to maintain contact with existing and supportive social networks 'back' home. During the participants' journey across the desert and Mediterranean sea, a satellite phone was use to maintain contact as well as guide them across these hostile terrains, while escaping the detection of officials who might have put a stop to their journey. In Malta, the mobile was the main communicative tool used. It was sometimes perceived as their most important asset, a piece of technology which kept them in contact with friends, relatives and colleagues in Malta and abroad, and helped distract sometimes from a bitter social reality. It resulted that the greater the need to communicate the greater the changes forced on the use of the mobile phone within different social contexts and the more intense was the bond with the medium.