Non-profit group Refunite calls for regional support to tackle refugee crisis
A European non-profit tech organisation has called for greater support from the Arab world as the refugee crisis across the region worsens.
Copenhagen- based Refunite aims to reconnect separated refugee families across the globe via mobile and other technologies through partnerships with telecom providers and other entities.
Speaking to Gulf Business, co-founder Christopher Mikkelsen said he relocated to the United Arab Emirates last year specifically to mobilise support from the region.
“I moved to the UAE a year ago because I wanted to have more people work with me from this part of the world. You see most of the companies and foundations that work with me are either based out of Europe or the United States – places that are very far removed from the problems I’m trying to solve within this specific region,” he explained.
“I know a lot is being done for refugees in different ways [ in the region] but I would just cherish having people from the Arab world join us. I believe that intellectual awareness, understanding and ways of dealing with problems are very often highly localised.”
According to the latest figures from United Nations Refugee Agency UNHCR, the registered number of Syrian refugees stood at over 4.6 million as of January 19. The majority of them are currently in the neighbouring countries of Jordan and Lebanon while hundreds have also migrated to Europe.
“I worry that that the immense focus that refugees are taking right now will serve to have a backlash at some point,” said Mikkelsen.
“People are going to grow tired of the issue. And what you are seeing right now across Europe is that there is an initial openness towards refugees coming in, but then you start experiencing that it’s a lot more than just the honeymoon phase.
“There’s the question about integration and building lives that are worth living. That I think will produce the hangover that’s going to come after the honeymoon when people realise that meshing cultures in this way is immensely difficult. But we have to overcome it; we have to find out how to solve these problems,” he added.