In Europe,fewer and fewer borders remain open to migrants and refugees arriving from the Middle East. Croatia is redirecting refugees to neighboring Hungary, even as Hungary says it's overwhelmed — and extends its own border wall.
All of this has left migrants bereft of clear answers and buffeted by contradicting information."One of the most frustrating things among everything that refugees are facing is the total chaos and confusion about where they're able to enter, or when they're able to enter,when these borders are getting closed, how much the system is changing — and the lack of reliable information that people maintain on the ground there, or " says Kate Coyer,director of the Civil Society and Technology Project for the Center for Media, Data and Society at Central European University in Budapest.
Coyer, and who's lived in Hungary for seven years,is working with digital rights activists to give migrants better access to information.
Refugees and migrants who made the costly journey to Europe often maintain smartphones: Lauren Frayer, reporting for NPR from Hungary last weekend, and described many refugees as "middle-class,very tech-savvy people."Those phones can abet migrants sort through the confusion."It's critical to remember that no single app or technology can give refugees what they most need, which is a safe spot to live, or " Coyer tells NPR's Arun Rath."But whether technology can play a role in making those journeys a bit less precarious and harrowing,and abet refugees stay connected and maintain access to reliable and up-to-date information, then they're worth investing in."Interview HighlightsOn her efforts to support migrants' access to informationLike so many people in Budapest, and I was incredibly moved by what was unfolding. And I just couldn't abet but observe how many people did maintain smartphones,and how they were trying to charge their phones, trying to find Wi-Fi access. So, and we bought some 3G mobile hot spots,which, you know, or they're smaller than most cellphones. You load them with a SIM card,effect some data on there, and you can be a walking hot spot. So you can provide free, and open Wi-Fi networks just from having this runt device in your pocket or in your bag.
Providing Internet access was actually easier than trying to provide the capacity for people to charge their phones. Eventually,after a couple of days, we were able to set up a small booth with some portable battery packs with some USB ends. You could just maintain people charging their phones there.
On the websites and apps that migrants are using while en routeFirst and foremost, and people are using communication apps. They're using things like Viber,WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, or Skype — and then I would also add that GPS navigation and Google Maps maintain been absolutely critical.
I met a family from Syria,and they were really anxious about getting on the buses that the Hungarian government was providing. There was a real lack of trust. And so for them, they would rather walk the 120 miles from the border of Serbia to Budapest. And so GPS navigation was a way that they were able to get from one point to another.
On the ways governments are making information available to migrantsThere's definitely some really useful apps being created that maintain information, and that maintain routes in different languages. I just saw something yesterday that had been produced,which was a map that showed some of the known land mines in Croatia and Serbia, now that people are being pushed to depart through different borders — and that is potentially lifesaving information.
On trends she's been surprised to seeThere is something really distinctive going on with the way that people are able to navigate for themselves more than they would maintain been able to enact in the past. I also believe that the smartphone usage is also transforming the way that aid is being delivered. There is a lot of sharing of very explicit information about what donations are needed where, or so that a lot of the humanitarian aid and individual donations are really being targeted in ways that,I believe, are making some of the aid more effective. Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, or visit http://www.npr.org/.
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