Dear Deeply Readers,
Welcome to the archives of Refugees Deeply. While we paused regular publication of the site on April 1, 2019, we are happy to serve as an ongoing public resource on refugees and migration. We hope you’ll enjoy the reporting and analysis that was produced by our dedicated community of editors and contributors.
We continue to produce events and special projects while we explore where the on-site journalism goes next. If you’d like to reach us with feedback or ideas for collaboration you can do so at [email protected].
Exploring the role of innovation and technology in response to forced displacement.
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In the second of our interviews with Ideation Summit finalists, we spoke to architect and urban designer Luis Torres about his team’s design of a digital marketplace in Berlin to help refugees resume work.
In the first of our interviews with the finalists in a design contest to make marketplaces for refugees, we spoke to architects Ambra Chiaradia and Diana Paoluzzi about their proposal for a cooling system to keep food fresh in Kenya’s Kakuma refugee camp.
In the fourth of a series of interviews with private-sector leaders who pledged to help address the refugee crisis, we speak to Pearson chief executive John Fallon about the publisher’s efforts to tackle the huge challenge of educating displaced children.
In a large, remote camp in Kenya, refugee students are studying for their accountancy qualifications at the country’s best business school via real-time conferencing. Refugees Deeply spoke to iLab Africa’s Regina Nkonge about the innovative education project.
Maha Mamo and her siblings, born stateless in Lebanon to Syrian parents, were welcomed into the home of a local family in Brazil. The experience inspired her to help design an app that connects the growing number of refugees in Brazil with volunteer host families.
In the third of a series of interviews with private-sector leaders who pledged to help address the refugee crisis, we speak to Erin Connor of Cisco about the multinational I.T. company’s work on the refugee crisis.
Benjamin Hounsell Leads the Implementation Research Pillar, Samuel Hall
Innovations for refugees are concentrated in Europe, even though most of the world’s refugee population lives in sub-Saharan Africa, says Ben Hounsell, senior researcher at think tank Samuel Hall. He explains how little is known about African refugees’ technology needs.
A group of MIT graduates have developed a Facebook Messenger app that connects refugees with volunteer translators in real time. Refugees Deeply spoke with Atif Javed, one of the cofounders of Tarjimly.
In the second of a series of interviews with private-sector leaders who pledged to help address the refugee crisis, we speak to Jane Meseck of Microsoft Philanthropies about the technology company’s work with refugees.
Historians frustrated by simplistic comparisons between refugee crises past and present have set up a platform to delve deeper into historical parallels and differences. Its founders talk to Judith Vonberg about the importance of history for understanding the present.
In the first of a series of interviews with private sector leaders who pledged to help address the refugee crisis, we speak to Matthew Bauer, CEO of Sparrow Mobile, which provides refugees with smartphones and apps designed to ease their integration into the U.S.
A team of grad students put their design skills to work developing a chatbot to service humanitarian organizations responding to the refugee crisis. Founder Ciaran Duffy talks to Refugees Deeply about how it works.
Meghan Benton and Alex Glennie Senior Policy Analyst, Migration Policy Institute
The refugee crisis prompted an explosion of apps and digital tools to help displaced people on their journey. Meghan Benton and Alex Glennie, authors of a new Migration Policy Institute report on tech sector assistance to refugees, explain why results have been mixed.
When people are displaced, they are often thrown into a new place with no identity. Riccardo Luca Conti of U.K.-based design studio CatalyticAction tells Refugees Deeply why it’s important to design spaces that provide a new sense of belonging.
On the first day of a new six-month intensive coding program for refugees in the British capital, photojournalist Alice Rowsome meets the ambitious students who want to make a difference using technology.
Fiona Duggan Senior Manager in Charge of the Turkey Program, Children’s Charity Theirworld
Marking this year’s International Day of the Girl, Fiona Duggan, of the children’s charity Theirworld, writes about the aspirations of Syrian girls she met in Turkey – a country where more than 60 percent of refugee girls are out of school.
The war has increased mental health problems while making it harder for displaced Syrians to access treatment. The Syrian Telemental Health Network lets psychiatrists outside the country provide remote support to colleagues on the ground.
Much of the responsibility in caring for refugees arriving in Germany has fallen to local authorities. This has brought challenges, but also successful innovations that must be widely shared – and quickly, says Brookings Institution scholar Bruce Katz.
In light of the U.N. Summit for Refugees and Migrants in New York, we explore what it means for Syrians and Syrian refugees to stay safe in a tech-driven world where new technologies and data-collection initiatives are on the rise.
Bruce Katz Centennial Scholar, Brookings Institution
Ahead of the U.N. General Assembly meeting this week, a new discussion paper from the Brookings Institution has one clear message for world leaders: There is an urgent need to focus on the role and actions of cities taking in refugees across Europe.
Asem Hasna, from Syria, learned about do-it-yourself technologies after losing a leg in the conflict. Now living in Germany, where he has sought asylum, he wants to pass on the “science of the future” to refugee children.
Assembling the first refugee team for the Paralympics in Rio was a reminder of the barriers faced by forced migrants. Team leader and experienced Paralympics organizer Tony Sainsbury talks about the struggle to make it happen.
Migrant and tech experts in South Africa have set up a crowdsourcing platform for people to report xenophobic threats and violence, hoping to save lives and hold leaders to account.
Stefan Wallaschek PhD Fellow, Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences
The groundbreaking document that helped Europe overcome past refugee crises could help once more, argues Stefan Wallaschek of the Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences.
Evan Easton-Calabria and Naohiko Omata Researcher, Refugee Studies Centre in Oxford
Urban refugees often fall between the cracks of aid organizations, but are ideal candidates for microfinance. But their circumstances need to be carefully vetted, say Evan Easton-Calabria and Naohiko Omata, authors of a global survey on microcredit.
Will Jones and Alex Teytelboym Lecturer, the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford
Matching theory can drastically improve refugee resettlement, argue Will Jones and Alex Teytelboym, who have adapted algorithms used for school choice.
Several organizations and projects are at the forefront of seeking solutions to the unparalleled levels of global migration. In the first installment of our “Experts to Watch” series, we look at five that are rethinking refugee aid.
The award-winning Lora Pappa, who quit the UNHCR to found her own upstart charity Metadrasi, talks about the vital importance of providing good interpreters and the art of the possible.
Klaas van Dijken and Ludo Hekman Partners, Butch and Sundance Media
An innovative interactive film in the Netherlands puts people in the interviewer’s chair at the asylum agency. Its producers discuss the importance of new forms of storytelling in breaking down barriers to understanding.
Motivated by a desire to rebuild Syria’s devastated economy, enterprising young women in the war-torn country are turning to tech to help others of their generation find employment – and better futures.
Jessica Hansen Global Engagement Manager, Kiva Microfunds
Many refugees are displaced due to conflicts over land and resources. Jessica Hansen, global engagement manager at Kiva – a microfinance NGO – explains how pooling resources for members of disadvantaged groups prevents their becoming future refugees.
With cities across Europe continuing to attract the majority of the continent’s refugees, mayors struggling with insufficient budgets are helping each other and calling for increased E.U. funds to integrate new arrivals.
Christine Mahoney Director, Social Entrepreneurship Department of the University of Virginia
In the final installment of her series on barriers to advocacy, University of Virginia professor Christine Mahoney proposes advocacy campaigns that secure funds to create “social entrepreneurship and self-sufficiency.”
Christine Mahoney Director, Social Entrepreneurship Department of the University of Virginia
In this fourth installment of her series on refugee advocacy, University of Virginia professor Christine Mahoney draws from her observations in Nepal, Thailand and Colombia, where corruption and lack of capacity prevent effective advocacy.
Christine Mahoney Director, Social Entrepreneurship Department of the University of Virginia
In this third installment of her series on refugee advocacy, University of Virginia professor Christine Mahoney explores some of the hurdles in advocating for the displaced in their first countries of reception.
The Norwegian Refugee Council’s Jan Egeland explains that without consistent education, Syrian refugee children risk becoming part of the lost generations – a phrase they have come to loathe.
Christine Mahoney Director, Social Entrepreneurship Department of the University of Virginia
In this second installment of her series on refugee advocacy, University of Virginia professor Christine Mahoney argues that the Western media’s famously short-term interest in displacement crises is driven primarily by geopolitics.
Christine Mahoney Director, Social Entrepreneurship Department of the University of Virginia
Professor Christine Mahoney, author of “Failure and Hope: Fighting for the Rights of the Forcibly Displaced,” argues from the World Humanitarian Summit that traditional political advocacy is of limited value in improving the lives of refugees and IDPs.
Pierre Krähenbühl
As the World Humanitarian Summit convenes, UNRWA’s commissioner-general, Pierre Krähenbühl, calls for political action to resolve armed conflicts – especially so that Palestinian children in the Occupied Territories and Syria can access the education they need.
As Istanbul gears up to host the inaugural World Humanitarian Summit, Turkish support for Syrians – including its policy of granting access to education to Syrian children officially registered as refugees – will be in the spotlight.
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