Jordan鈥檚 Queen Rania highlights differing treatment of refugees in speech at Web Summit in Lisbon

Queen of Jordan, Rania Al Abdullah, speaks during the Web Summit, Europe's largest technology conference, in Lisbon, Portugal, November 2, 2022. (Reuters)
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  • Ukrainian refugee crisis reveals a marked 鈥渄ifference in generosity, tone and urgency鈥� compared with attitudes to refugees from Syria, South Sudan, and Myanmar, she said

LONDON: Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan has warned of the dangers posed by humanity鈥檚 growing reliance on technology and called for greater emphasis on using it to improve the lives of the most vulnerable people around the world.

鈥淭he real progress we need is not better machines but for all of us to be better humans,鈥� she said at the Web Summit in Lisbon on Wednesday, in her keynote speech during a session titled 鈥淏attling Built-In Biases,鈥� the Jordan News Agency reported.

Jordan is participating for the first time at the annual summit, which was founded in 2009 and is described as Europe鈥檚 largest tech event.

Queen Rania argued that we have become 鈥渉ooked鈥� on our devices, citing the findings of the Digital 2022 Global Overview Report that the average daily amount of time spent online had increased in the past year by four minutes per day, which adds up to one additional day per person per year.

鈥淚f someone told us we鈥檇 have one extra day per year, would we conclude that the best thing we could do for our families, for our communities, for our world was to take those extra 24 hours and invest them back into our screens?鈥� she asked.

鈥淚 am concerned that we鈥檙e undervaluing the most precious currency of all 鈥� our time. I am concerned that, even as virtual reality improves by the day, we鈥檙e neglecting the needs of our actual reality. And our mental health is suffering, too.鈥�

The queen also noted that while the response of the international community to the Ukrainian refugee crisis has demonstrated how much can be accomplished through collective action, it also highlights a marked 鈥渄ifference in generosity, tone and urgency鈥� compared with the help extended to refugees from Syria, South Sudan and Myanmar.

鈥淚t鈥檚 hard not to wonder if skin color and religion affect the global community鈥檚 humanitarian instincts and whether the impulse is to lend a helping hand or look away,鈥� she said. 鈥淎ddressing that prejudice isn鈥檛 an algorithm鈥檚 job 鈥� it鈥檚 up to us.鈥�

Queen Rania also took part in a discussion with Frederik Pleitgen, senior international correspondent with CNN, during which they covered a variety of topics including the inequalities in the global response to refugee crises around the world.

鈥淚t is frighteningly simple for the human mind to tune out the suffering of others, particularly when they do not seem to be like us or when they have names that we find difficult to pronounce,鈥� she said.

鈥淭hat kind of 鈥榗hoosy鈥� compassion, that selective kind of empathy, has real, tragic geopolitical consequences. It鈥檚 a blind spot in our humanity; it determines where we look and what we see.鈥�

The queen urged the technology community to work to help alleviate the suffering of refugees.

鈥淭he biggest selling point for technology is the fact that it transcends borders at a time when our world, unfortunately, keeps erecting them,鈥� she said.

鈥淩efugees, on a daily basis, face legal, cultural, linguistic, economic barriers and you all can develop solutions that can help overcome those barriers.鈥�

Queen Rania also met representatives from a number of Jordanian startups that are active in the local and global technology scenes, in sectors such as gaming, medical information systems, artificial intelligence, drone-based solutions, and cloud-based video editing.

Startups from the country are taking part in the Web Summit as part of Jordan Source, a program developed in line with the vision of Crown Prince Al-Hussein bin Abdullah. It aims to promote the Kingdom as a leading destination for investment and innovation in the information and communications technology sector.