World Refugee Day: How Blockchain Makes An Impact

World Refugee Day highlights the issues of identity, which Blockchain technology can help create an effective identity solution – one that is flexible, reliable and sustainable while accommodating the transitional circumstances faced by refugees. 

The UN defines a refugee as “someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence.” World Refugee day reminds us to look at the issues at hand. As of May, roughly 25.4 million refugees around the globe have fled their homes to escape violence and persecution. Some countries are trying to address the problem.

In 2015, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel enacted an “open-door” policy. This brought more than 1.4 million migrants to flow into the country. But now Germany is having issues integrating the large number of refugees into its society. This is in part due to identification. There are more than 1.1 billion people worldwide without an ID.

Blockchain Impact

Social Alpha Foundation is a not-for-profit grant making platform supporting blockchain technology for social good.

“Self Sovereign Identity, a key-based, on-chain decentralized digital identity, for example, can potentially help iron out the inefficiencies associated with the issuance of government paper-based IDs, allows people to reclaim control of their own information, and provides international protection for refugees and the ‘invisible population’ (the stateless or those who don’t have IDs).” Nydia Zhang, Co-founder and Chairwoman

AID:Tech is a company working to transform how governments, NGOs, and Enterprises deliver digital entitlements.

“Refugees, especially those in protracted crises, are vulnerable, particularly when we look at the challenge of identity. Not only do refugees need to reformulate their personal identity to secure a sense of belonging, but also it’s imperative from a legal, social, and political perspective. Needless to say, the issue is more complex than simply assigning each individual an identity card, as global crises happening throughout the world are different and varied with refugees and their situation experiencing a constant flux.” Joseph Thompson, Co-founder

Shyft Network has used blockchain technology to create a secure, multi-stakeholder digital identity solution that enables KYC/AML attested data transfers. The solution is breaking away from the traditional neccessities of identity. The problems we are facing today are unique to this  time in history.

This platform will help refugees and those without ID gain access to the global economy by giving them a way to build Creditability – a contextual identity based on reputation and credibility – no matter where they are.

“Our team at Shyft believes that identity is a right, not a privilege. We are evolving into a world where geography increasingly defines destiny, and that has to change. We are witnessing millions of refugees, migrants and asylum seekers crossing borders to escape violence and build better lives for themselves and their families, only to run into institutional barriers, unable to access basic services and participate in the global economy.” CEO Bruce Silcoff