1. Be agile
The recent European refugee crisis saw catastrophic
political failure in the EU. We neither prepared nor executed a rational and
sensible response. It showed fundamental problems with the whole EU vision. At
National level it was just as bad. The response was walls, fences, barbed wire
and police. Government departments, even in places used to large numbers of
refugees were overwhelmed. Beyond this has been the failure to adequately
integrate past refugees leaving them marginalised and capable of horrific acts of
terror born of resentment and revenge. We have not provided vocational
education and jobs in enough numbers to integrate refugees, whether in the past
or present. Our institutions are too large and inflexible, especially in
education, to provide for the employment needs of so many people. We need to be
far more agile.
Technology has the ability to decentralise, disintermediate
and democratise knowledge and services. It has speed, scalability and saving money on
its side. You can get directly to refugees, as well as allowing them to get to
you. This is not to say that it is the only solution. That would be blinkered.
But it is a useful tactic within an overall strategy. So let’s see how
technology can be used to alleviate what is one of the great political problems
of our age.
2. Be mobile
There was a furore when refugees were pictured with
smartphones. How dare they ask for our help when they can afford such things?
Yet this simply showed the gulf between perception and reality. The mobile phone
is a lifeline in countries from which the refugees came. In the Middle East, a
way of existing within a society that has rules about physical social contact; in
Africa, the means by which one can get work, transfer money and keep in touch.
A mobile phone is a lifeline for refugees. They are, after all, on the move –
mobile.
That’s why we must focus on this device when we think of
technology as a solution to many (not all) refugee problems. Whether it be
biometrics, data collection, money, language and finding information. Mobile
should be the device of choice when it comes to integration and fostering
autonomy in refugees.
It’s not just the simple voice function. It’s bulk SMS,
WhatsApp, map applications, cash provision, language translation – a swarm of useful
functions. Beyond this consistent and useful data collection on mobile through
structured interviews i.e. set questions, often multiple choice is also useful,
to identify real needs
To this end we have useful initiatives, such as zero tariffs
for key information and services, as well as connectivity movements such as the
Humanitarian Connectivity Charter (HMCC), that tries to open channels to
prepare and respond to humanitarian crises.
3. Identification
To deliver effective solutions to problems, you need to know
the scale of the problem and authentic identification is essential. We have
seen refugees remove skin from their fingers to evade fingerprinting but the
bottom line here, is that identification is necessary, even more so since the
Paris bombings. This is an area in which technology excels; fingerprints,
retinal, iris, face recognition, voice recognition even vein recognition. A
combination of these techniques is even better.
4. Orientation
So far, so good. But the real problems have only just
started. The first big need when refugees find their destination, is
orientation. Where do they find services, legal, health, education, language
classes and so on. It can be bewildering, even frightening, arriving in a
strange city in a strange country, where you do not speak the language.
One of the best examples of an agile solution to this
problem is in Berlin, where the refugees themselves have created a simple map,
in English, Arabic and Farsi, with the location of key services. This is crowd-sourced
and a great example of an agile project that empowers the refugees themselves,
to help themselves, rather than the top-down approach.
Hackathons
aim to get real results in a short time, focused on real and immediate needs.
To get useable results there needs to be the quick and exact definition of
ideas. These are then executed by mixed teams, with a variety of necessary
skills, to lead to success.
When refugees
arrive in great numbers, it creates the possibility of chaos and confusion. One
hacked project that results in a solution to an immediate need was a number
queuing system for LAGeSo (Landesamt für Gesundheit und Soziales) the first contact centre for
refugees in Berlin.
5. Languages
Refugees, who themselves speak a variety of languages, are
likely to find themselves in countries where they do not speak the language.
Even the second language they do speak may not be the language they need in
their new host country.
Intensive tutor-led classes are expensive, difficult to
organise and competent teachers may be hard to find. One solution is to produce
or reuse existing free online learning such as Duolingo and MOOCs.
Duolingo is free, with over 100 million users and teaches Norwegian,
Swedish, Danish, German, Dutch, French, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish and
others….
The IELTS test (International English Language Testing
System) is the world’s most popular English language test for global migration.
Over 9,000 organisations worldwide accept it; universities, employers,
immigration authorities and professional bodies. Last year over 2.2 million
tests were completed. This MOOC, the largest ever, had more than 440,000
learners from over 150 counties enrolled.
Another good example is the British Council ‘s free “Exploring
English: Language and Culture’ MOOC. It has had 326,000 enrolments to date.
6. Online learning
Youth unemployment is the one thing we want to avoid with
refugees. The way to avoid future disenchantment is fruitful employment.
Academic structures, timescales and current vocational options are not good
enough. Single course entry points are not enough. If you arrive in October, it
is bizarre to have to wait almost a year to enter a formal course. Their needs
are much more immediate and dynamic. The academic, agricultural calendar is
ridiculous and the rigid layers in the system, make it far too difficult to
cope with outsiders.
The solution is clearly online courses or at least blended courses
with large online components.
Unicef is
developing a programme called the “Virtual School for Education in Crises” (or
Sahabati – My Cloud – in Arabic), which will offer courses, assessments and
certification in Arabic, English, Maths and science. In a study from the University of
Geneva, 78% of refugees reported they would definitely do an online course –
for all, this was their first experience of distance learning.
7. Vocational learning
The great problem many economies face is unemployed young
men. The suburbs of our cities are filling up with young men who lose faith and
look for a purpose in life beyond even life itself.
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