From time to time we've discussed migration as opposed to sheltering in place. Most of us would probably agree that in certain situations (major war, long term famine, etc) the only viable option may be to migrate to another country or continent. Current events provide numerous examples of where this is now happening.
The NY Times as an interesting article:
21st-Century Migrant’s Checklist: Water, Shelter, Smartphone . It seems that for those fleeing the wars in Syria, Afganistan, Iraq, and other regional catastrophes, a smartphone is an indispensable tool.
BELGRADE, Serbia — The tens of thousands of migrants who have flooded into the Balkans in recent weeks need food, water and shelter, just like the millions displaced by war the world over. But there is also one other thing they swear they cannot live without: a smartphone charging station.
“Every time I go to a new country, I buy a SIM card and activate the Internet and download the map to locate myself,” Osama Aljasem, a 32-year-old music teacher from Deir al-Zour in Syria, explained as he sat on a broken park bench in Belgrade, staring at his smartphone and plotting his next move into northern Europe.
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Technology has transformed this 21st-century version of a refugee crisis, not least by making it easier for millions more people to move. It has intensified the pressures on routes that prove successful — like this one through the Balkans, where the United Nations said Tuesday that about 3,000 people a day continued to cross the border from Greece into Macedonia.
In this modern migration, smartphone maps, global positioning apps, social media and WhatsApp have become essential tools.
Migrants depend on them to post real-time updates about routes, arrests, border guard movements and transport, as well as places to stay and prices, all the while keeping in touch with family and friends.
Traffickers use Facebook to advertise their services, but Facebook also started to cut into the traffickers business, as many migrants realize they can make the trip successfully on their own, with the help of a smartphone.
Traffickers advertise their services on Facebook like any legitimate travel agency, with dynamic photographs of destination cities and generous offers.
On the Arabic-language Facebook group Trafficking to Europe, one trafficker offers a 50 percent discount for children under 5. The 1,700 euro price of the journey from Istanbul to Thessaloniki, Greece, about $1,900, includes travel by car to and from each side of the border with a two-hour walk across.
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“Right now the traffickers are losing business because people are going alone, thanks to Facebook,” said Mohamed Haj Ali, 38, who works with the Adventist Development and Relief Agency in Belgrade, Serbia’s capital — a major stopover for migrants.
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But as tens of thousands completed their journeys, they shared their experiences on social media — even the precise GPS coordinates of every stop along their routes, recorded automatically by some smartphones.
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