Google Putting the Spotlight on Refugees

Google Putting the Spotlight on Refugees

Techtree News Staff, Apr 09, 2008 2317 hrs IST

Users need to first download Google Earth software (if they haven't already) to be able to view satellite imagery of refugee camps in troubled regions such as Darfur, Iraq, and Columbia.

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Search giant Google, along with the United Nations Organization (U.N.O.) has introduced a new feature to its mapping program that helps shines a light on the movement of refugees across the globe.

For this, users need to first download Google Earth software (if they haven't already) to be able to view satellite imagery of refugee camps in troubled regions such as Darfur, Iraq, and Columbia. These maps will help humanitarian operations, and keep the public informed about millions who've fled their homes because of violence or hardship; the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees informed. The Associated Press (AP) even reported the U.N. Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees, L Craig Johnstone, as saying, "All of the things that we do for refugees in the refugee camps around the world will become more visible now."

However it is practically impossible to display all parts of the world in the same high resolution though Google is making a whole-hearted effort towards allowing its users to zoom in closely on as many refugee camps as possible. For instance, Google Earth users can view individual tents clustered together in the Djabal refugee camp in Eastern Chad, home to refugees from conflict-ridden Darfur.

As regards Google Earth, the software that was launched three years ago has, according to Google, seen some 350 million downloads. From past experience, the software has been very useful for relief operations during natural disasters like hurricane Katrina. Ever since, Google has leveraged the software to reach out to governments and non-profits for social and humanitarian causes.

In any case, for a company whose business is modeled upon its ability to map nearly 80 percent of the world's information on some map or the other, such causes could only be a win-win both professionally as well as on a more philanthropic note.



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