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Five Ways Social Media Helps Refugees

Syrian and Iraqi refugees reach the coastal waters of Lesbos in Greece, after having crossed from Turkey.

"Syrians and Iraq Refugees Arrive at Skala Sykamias Lesvos" by Ggia via Wikimedia Commons is licensed under CC0

Social media are websites and apps for sharing information and ideas. They have been useful for sharing information about Syrian refugees. Refugees are people who want to escape a dangerous situation in their home country. Syrian refugees are escaping a dangerous war. Social media isn't just a way to find information about refugees, though. It also offers ways that you can help them. Here are five examples:

Humans of New York

Humans of New York is a very popular Facebook page. It has about 18 million Facebook "likes." This page has helped raise awareness of the suffering of Syrian refugees. For example, the page told the story of a Syrian named Refaai Hamo. The actor Ed Norton saw the story. He then started a group to support Hamo and his family. President Obama also invited Hamo to be his guest at the president's last State of the Union address that he gave to Congress.

Twitter

Twitter can be a useful way to raise money. For example, an activist named Gissur Simonarson used Twitter to share a photo of a Syrian refugee. The refugee's name was Abdul Halim al-Attar. He was selling pens on a street in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. In the photo, al-Attar was holding his 4-year-old daughter.

The photo inspired the hashtag #BuyPens. Then Simonarson opened a Twitter account, @Buy_Pens. He used it to raise $200,000 for al-Attar and his family. Al-Attar used the money to open three businesses in Lebanon. He has hired 16 other Syrian refugees.

Kickstarter

Kickstarter is an American websit that gives money directly to new businesses. In 2015, employees at Kickstarter wanted to try to help Syrian refugees.

Kickstarter partnered with the United Nations. Together they created Kickstarter's first charity effort. More than 25,000 people gave money for refugees. Kickstarter raised $1.77 million in total. The money helped more than 7,000 refugees. It supplied them with important everyday items.

One Refugee Child

Many Syrian refugees continue to arrive in Greece. Anca Ponea lives there. Ponea decided to write something about the many young refugees she was seeing. She posted about them on Humans of New York. She explained the dangers and difficulties that refugee children face.

An American named Marie Beechy read Ponea's post. The women started talking through Facebook. They agreed to start a group called One Refugee Child. This group raises money to improve the daily lives of refugee children. It has sent more than 200 strollers to Greece and Turkey.

The group One Refugee Child has sent more than 200 strollers to Greece and Turkey.

"Untitled" by Joaquim Roubert via Pixabay is licensed under CC0

Refugees as Technology Experts

Alessandra Morelli is an official at the United Nations. She said that refugees are using technology in new ways. Some refugees who cross the Mediterranean Sea are using Facebook. They use it to send messages if they need help. They are also using Facebook to get opinions and information. For example, some have asked for suggestions about which tents to buy for their journey.

The U.S. has welcomed more than 3 million refugees since 1975. It has taken in more than 600,000 refugees in the last 10 years alone. In 2016, the U.S. welcomed 85,000 refugees from around the world. This number includes 10,000 from Syria.

Since the civil war began in Syria, the U.S. has also given money to try to help those affected. So far, the U.S. has given more than $5.1 billion to this cause.

Glossary

a refugee (n) - someone who has been forced to leave a country because of war or danger

to escape (v) - to get away from a dangerous place or situation

awareness (n) - knowledge that something exists

hashtag (n) - a word or phrase that starts with the symbol # and is used to summarize a social media message

a tent (n) - a temporary shelter made of cloth

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© 2019. Five Ways Social Media Helps Refugees for the AE ETeacher Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and administered by FHI 360. This work is an adaptation of Five Ways Social Media Helps Refugees by Voice of America. Adapted content is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, except where noted. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/