For Syrian refugees, smartphones are a lifeline — not a toy. There are poignant images of child migrants sleeping on cardboard in the streets of Greece, or their parents being beaten by Macedonian riot police. And then there are the photos of beaming youth, fresh off the rubber dinghy from Turkey, toting smartphones and grouping together for a selfie. As the Mediterranean refugee crisis deepens, those latter pictures have raised eyebrows among skeptics in the apparent belief that people fleeing conflict must be squalid and poor.
"Are these happy young men really timid souls fleeing war and persecution? They aren't quite the heart-rending image of dishevelled, traumatized refugees fleeing the horrors of their war-torn home country one might expect," blared Britain's Express tabloid. "Poverty stricken Syrian migrant takes selfie with her $600 smartphone," claimed a tweeter going by the handle DefendWallSt, under a photo — which some have called a hoax — of a woman in a lifejacket and headscarf snapping a pic of herself. 1. 2. 3. 4. How smartphones are helping refugees in Europe. Alkis Konstantinidis | Reuters A Syrian refugee, from Kobani, carries her baby as she arrives with other Syrian refugees on a dinghy on the island of Lesbos, Greece August 23, 2015.
Greece, mired in its worst economic crisis in generations, has been found largely unprepared for a mass influx of refugees, mainly Syrians. Arrivals have exceeded 160,000 this year, three times as high as in 2014. A photo project by the IRC, called What's in my bag, documents what possessions refugees and migrants have brought with them. Many of them had brought smartphones, chargers, as well as spare cell phones, emphasising the importance of keeping in touch. Donohoe said many refugees use free messaging services, specifically WhatsApp, Facebook and Viber, to communicate with other refugees and family members who have been left behind.
Back in Molyvos & the boats keep coming. IRC is the main responder on the Greek island of Lesbos, where up to 4,000 people are arriving each day, according to Donohoe. Surprised that Syrian refugees have smartphones? Sorry to break this to you, but you're an idiot - Comment - Voices. “Hey, those people fleeing war in Syria aren’t poor at all! Look, they all have smartphones!” Is one increasingly tedious complaint that has been bubbling away on social media recently. Owning a mobile phone, it seems, should render one ineligible for help when trying to stop themselves and their families from dying in a war. On the surface this may look like xenophobia searching for something to grab on to following a shift in the public mood towards refugees from the Middle East. But it is actually a fairly progressive stance: just weeks ago the anti-immigration brigade were complaining that migrants are unskilled and just want our benefits.
And now they’re arguing that migrants are too wealthy instead, implicitly arguing we should prioritise helping the poor. But in any case, it does raise an interesting question: Exactly how surprised should we be that people from Syria carry smartphones? Refugees march from Hungary to Austria Reuse content. People are outraged to see refugees with smartphones. They shouldn't be. There's a lot of outrage on the Internet about migrants coming ashore and immediately taking selfies. You seriously do not want to read the comments in the Daily Express after the site ran a story under a photo of smiling Syrian refugees with phones on selfie sticks.
This particular tweet, showing a woman taking a selfie when she reaches land, is doing the rounds of anti-immigrant websites, and is considered proof that these are rich people, "economic migrants" rather than real victims of tragedy. Personally, I think the first thing I would do if I got off an inflatable dinghy after a long trip like that is take a selfie of myself and my kid to prove that I'd made it.
I suspect that the happy Syrians are doing much the same thing. In fact, according to Middle East Online, many migrants consider their smartphones to be more important than food. It should also be noted that in much of the world, cellphones are not luxuries. The migrants are not necessarily poverty stricken either. See How Smartphones Have Become a Lifeline for Refugees. How technology is affecting the refugee crisis. A Mercy Corps staffer helps a Syrian refugee find directions to a nearby camp using a map application on his smartphone. Mobile phones help refugees who are seeking safety in Europe find lifesaving information about their journey.
Photo: Karine Aigner for Mercy Corps Imagine traveling thousands of miles through unfamiliar, tense and frightening conditions with only the belongings you’re able to carry. You journey by sea, then by foot, for days at a time without food, water or much money. You must keep moving and each new day brings with it new surroundings, new languages and new uncertainty about where to find the basics — a meal, a bed, a bathroom — let alone directions to your next destination.
To make matters worse, you don’t know where many of your loved ones are, or even if they’re OK. You are desperate, terrified and disoriented: How do you find the information you need to survive? Seventy-five percent are refugees fleeing years-long conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. University for all – Calais – Educating without borders: UEL and friends in Calais and beyond. European refugee higher education opportunities: Higher education for refugees in Europe: Some information. Media coverage of ‘University for all’: Times Higher: ‘University for all’ Educating Syria – Research Professional CBC Ideas, ‘No Man’s Land’ part 1, by Philip Coulter, featuring UfA’s Aura Lounasma CBC Ideas, ‘No man’s land’ part 2, by Philip Coulter, featuring UfA’s Aura Lounasmaa Introduction The Centre for Narrative Research is teaching a short university course on ‘Life Stories’ with residents at the Jungle refugee camp in Calais, in 2015-2016.
Teaching involves photography, art and poetry workshops, in addition to life story work. The ‘Jungle’ camp There are now around 6000 people now living in the Calais camp, with few facilities, as the camp is informal, with the exception of a fenced container area, some group tent accommodation administered by French social services, and a small French government facility for women and children. The ‘Life Stories’ course The university today. Calais refugee library flooded with thousands of books | Books. The makeshift library providing books to refugees in the Calais camp known as the Jungle has been inundated with books and emails of support, following a Guardian article about it.
Jungle Books has now “more than enough” books to go around, and its creator, British teacher Mary Jones, is trying to redirect help to where it is most needed. “People have been brilliant, and a lot are coming over with their cars full of things, including books,” Jones told the Guardian. She added: “The library is so small, and also the types of books people are looking for are not necessarily the ones people are sending.” She stressed that the library was most in need of books in refugees’ native languages. With publishers such as Verso Books also contributing, Jungle Books now had “books from floor to ceiling”.
“It’s a shame for money to be spent on the postage for books”, Jones says – instead, she hopes to encourage people wanting to help to help tackle more urgent priorities. Jungle Books Library – Calais – Educating without borders: UEL and friends in Calais and beyond. Jungle Books Library was started by Mary Jones in collaboration with camp residents. It now includes a library, a classroom, a women’s and children’s centre, and a radio station, Radio Jungala (Radio Jungle-No!) : The Guardian has chronicled the beginnings of this project: Jungle Books is run by and for camp residents. Picture courtesy of Katrine Moeller Hansen Like this: Like Loading... About Classroom - Classroom Help. 4a1d5ba36. Evaluation of Child Friendly Spaces: Research Report. Guidelines for Child-Friendly Spaces. Building a Future for the Youngest Refugees.
By Sarah Dryden-Peterson Sarah Dryden-Peterson is an assistant professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. This post is adapted from remarks delivered at a gathering of State Department policymakers in Washington, DC. It was originally published by the Brookings Institute. Annette was a young girl of 10 when I met her in a refugee camp in southwest Uganda. Like most refugees, Annette hoped, and truly believed, that she would soon return to her home country.
Education is central to the planting of this future. Refugee children and youth need high quality education that will allow them to be safe and engaged in the present, and enable them to be productive and happy civically and economically in the future. No place to go The unknown future that refugee children and youth face is extreme. Amina is one of 2 million Syrian children displaced outside of Syria and 5.6 million children living amid the devastating conflict inside Syria.
Take the example of Henri. Additional Resources. Theconversation. Germany has seen a massive influx of migrants since opening its borders to refugees from war-torn countries in Africa and the Middle East. This year alone it is estimated more than 300,000 people have entered the country. We are physicians working at the refugee camps in Dresden, the capital of Saxony, which has accommodated 41,000 refugees this year alone. A volunteer staff of around 200 local physicians and student aides provides medical care for the refugees. They have been seeing roughly 60 to 90 patients a day in recent months. While many of the complaints are ordinary infectious diseases such as the common cold, abdominal complaints and transit-related skin and bone injuries, a number of refugees show symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The decision was made to offer psychiatric care as well. What causes PTSD? The causes for PTSD are manifold. How do we treat PTSD? Why they’re not getting effective treatment To ensure this is avoided, four things need to be done.