By Emmanuel Elebeke, (in Barcelona, Spain)

In apparent move to rescue the displaced Syrians in the crises ridden nation,  world networking giant, Ericsson, says it is teaming up with   Refugees United, and mobile operators across the Middle East to use mobile communications to expand the family reconnection services.

This action aims at reaching the nearly 800,000 displaced Syrians residing in Jordan and Iraq and helps those separated to locate each other via a mobile search tool.
According to Ericsson, the move is also aimed at complementing  the successful deployment of the Refugees United service in East Africa, where the service is already live through mobile operators in Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Somaliland.

A statement from Ericsson indicated that about 280,000 refugees have already registered on the service and Refugees United estimates that hundreds of families have been reunited.
Through this initiative, coalition of mobile operators is expected to launch several new initiatives to accelerate registrations of Syrians in these countries, including a free mobile application, a toll-free line, and a free SMS notification service.

The Refugees United family reconnection platform will be made available to Syrian families via a mobile application and toll-free lines; awareness will be created using SMS campaigns in the countries surrounding Syria

The United Nations estimates that due to the crisis in Syria, people are being displaced at the rate of one in every 15 seconds.
According to the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, there are 4.25 million Syrians displaced internally and 2.4 million displaced in neighboring countries.

Ericsson is the technology partner to the initiative, helping to develop and maintain the overall mobile platform and will provide technical support and integration of the tool into mobile networks in Jordan and Iraq.
The Ericsson Mobility Report estimated 803 million mobile subscriptions in Africa and 354 million in the Middle East in the third quarter of 2013.

Relying on the ever-growing mobile phone usage across the region, this initiative empowers refugees to take the search for missing family into their own hands – from any device.
Speaking on the development,  Co-founder of Refugees United, Christopher Mikkelsen, says: “Everyone has the right to know where their family is. We are seeing camps quickly become crowded and family members losing touch with each other. We hope that the launch of this service and our toll-free line can prevent some family tragedies.”

By this process, mobile operators will send text messages to people living in refugee camps and refugee prone areas, offering an opportunity to register for the service with toll-free lines and SMS.   The hotline will be manned out of a Refugees United office, where people can get help with registrations and other questions.