Technology can help refugees get settled
Imagine for a moment that you have lost your wallet. You’ve also lost access to any documentation that could prove your identity. You have no bank account or credit cards, no diploma to prove your education or training. Medical history, the property you own, everything you once had can no longer be linked to you.
You find yourself in a strange place, far away from the people who knew you before. Necessity dictates that this strange place is now your home, and you know that you must adapt and make the best of your situation. You still have the same skills, the same hopes and dreams for your life as before. But in this new place, you no longer have access to the people, the places and the resources that made up your life. And since you have no verifiable ID, recreating your identity is extremely challenging.
This story is part of the fabric of my life. I was 12 when my family fled war in Somalia and headed for the Kenyan border, leaving everything we knew behind. In our hometown of Mogadishu, my father had been a respected businessman. We lived in an affluent neighborhood where I played soccer every day and helped my family in the garden. I had brothers and sisters and many more members of my extended family who all lived together in relative harmony in our family compound.
When we arrived at Dadaab, the world’s largest refugee camp, an entirely new life began. I was no longer Hamse, friend, brother, aspiring soccer star; I was number 004371. I learned that my Dadaab camp identity had no permanence. When a new NGO started services in the camp or my family moved from camp to camp, we would go through the process of reviewing and documenting all over again. We started everything from scratch. It didn’t matter if I had received the same health vaccines already. Since there was no proof, no way to verify my identity or history, they were given again.
Sadly, this is the reality of life for more than 67 million refugees today who, due to war, displacement, or natural disasters, have been forced to flee their homes, often with only the little they could carry on their backs. The disruption actually results in a severing of identity. Without the people, places and things that created the context for your life, your identity is changed. From businessman to beggar. From good student to homeless wanderer. From family chef to waiting in line for a meager food ration.
Aid organizations rely on paper health and verification records that can easily get lost. The inefficiencies of operating this way are staggering. Reports estimate that up to $2.5 billion is wasted annually. Organizations serve millions of individuals with no idea who these people are, where they’ve been, or most importantly, what they could contribute.
NGOs have gotten very good at providing basic aid to refugees, but refugees are not empowered by this system. It keeps them relying on organizations for their necessities. It also keeps them living in the camps, where the average stay is now more than 17 years.
Several years ago, I met someone who shared the vision for a game-changing platform that could shift this reality for 67 million refugees. Together, we designed BanQu, the first-ever digital economic identity platform and network using blockchain technology. It allows a refugee living in a camp to store her family’s land and property records, birth registration, immunization, education and job schools, and collateral for asset financing and access to microfinance.
For the first time ever, that refugee has control of her own data. She can enter into contracts, receive payments and build a credit profile. Since banks can verify the refugee’s identity and history, she is now a potential customer. This is hugely impactful for the refugee’s work prospects.
Our goal should not be only to get better at providing aid but to create a new system to get refugees off of direct aid and able to take control of their lives. By giving them control of their own data, we empower them to contribute to their new communities.
Hamse Warfa is co-founder and executive vice president of BanQu, an MIT Innovation award-winning software technology company.
The 2018 Fireside Forum: Local Issues, Global Solutions
Feb. 8: “Prior Experience: Starting a New Life without Starting Over,” with
Hamse Warfa, co-founder, BanQu, and Dawn Tower, Milwaukee Public Schools ESL educator.
Details: 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 8, UWM Student Union, 2200 E. Kenwood Blvd., Fireside Lounge. The series is free; sponsored by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Institute of World Affairs and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.