About 80,000 people live in the Za’atari refugee camp in the desert of Jordan where there’s no sewage facilities, with only a few hours of electricity daily, yet there are more smartphones and other electronic devices here than running water.
It is a tech haven, since nearly everyone in the refugee camp has a laptop, tablet or smartphone. Well-known mobile phone brands are displayed in several dozen electronic stores in the main market in this camp.
Long years at the camp
Quite a good number of people had spent about three years in the camp, where the conditions are very harsh. The camp occupies a 2-square mile area in the heart of the desert. It is very rare for anyone in the camp to take a trip outside of it that it is almost like they are living in prison. Their only contact to the outside world is via the Internet. Both young and old residents in the camp stay plugged in and are very adept at using apps such as WhatsApp and Viber.
There’s a Syrian refugee who came to the camp about two years ago and now owns a pizza place at the main market. He keeps in touch with his brother who’s an asylum seeker in the United States. He too hopes to be able to leave the refugee camp soon to seek asylum in the U.S., Germany or the UK and he is trying to save because asylum seeking is an expensive process.
A couple in their 50s have been in the camp with most members of their family for three years. But they still have two daughters who were left in Syria and since the border is closed, WhatsApp, a mobile messaging platform, is their only means to get in touch with their daughters. These refugees are all making a dangerous and long trip from Syria to Europe and messaging apps are their lifeline.
Enterprising people
One refugee is a co-owner of a phone stall. His Jordanian acquaintances bring him electronic gadgets he could sell inside the camp. He uses a prepaid dongle to access the giant Internet service provider in Jordan, the coverage of which extends to the camp in Za’atari.
To make a living, some of the refugees put their skills in electronics to good use by opening repair shops. They invest in small generators to keep their supply of electricity constant. Every person inside the camp charges his or her gadgets in the evening since electricity is cut off during the day.
These smartphones have become a very important lifeline to these refugees who had no other choice but to leave their country. For Naserddine Touaibia, the Public Information Officer of the UNHCR, information is also a form of aid. The smartphones and Internet make their work at the refugee camp easier.
Image Copyright: loganban / 123RF Stock Photo
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