Digital technology and securitisation in humanitarian field security: unpacking bunkerisation risks and operational challenges

Abstract

Humanitarian operations in high-risk environments face escalating security threats that have transformed both organisational practices and relationships with affected populations. Digital technologies continue to influence securitisation in humanitarian field security often playing a key role in reinforcing bunkerisation. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with eight experienced UNHCR personnel working in fragile contexts, this paper argues that while technological tools enhance operational safety, they may also inadvertently restrict humanitarian access, raising tensions between operational effectiveness and humanitarian principles. Findings indicate that technologies such as biometric registration, satellite tracking, and encrypted communications strengthen situational awareness and staff protection, but can also perpetuate a security-first operational culture, resulting in reduced community engagement and constrained humanitarian outreach. The study concludes that humanitarian organisations must critically assess how security technologies are deployed to avoid reinforcing exclusionary practices, and recommends that effective security strategies must integrate technology and protective infrastructures with acceptance-based approaches that foreground dignity, trust, and equitable protection across staff enabling them to fulfil their humanitarian mandates.