Written by (Info migrants) Marlene Panare
According to Info migrants the news agency
Two immigration advocacy organizations in France have activated a WhatsApp number that uses emojis to guide immigrants. The needy can get the addresses of the places they need through this number.
A number of immigrants have difficulty meeting their basic needs such as showering, access to food or health services. In most cases, lack of information is the main problem for these immigrants to find immediate solutions.
The French Refugee and Veterans Agency has opened a WhatsApp chat space that uses emojis to provide information to immigrants.
To connect to this chat space called 505 Migrants, you must use the fertilizer desert or the phone number of the leaflets distributed to the migrants. The phone number is distributed in the areas where immigrants travel in Paris.
After the conversation is facilitated, a number of emojis are made available to the client, who must send an emoji related to their problem. For example, a person looking to take a shower should click on the shower emoji. 505 Migrants immediately identify the person’s address and send it to the nearest place where there is a shower. Another example is when someone sends, for example, a plate emoji or any other food-related emoji, they immediately receive the addresses of organizations or places where free food is distributed.
It should be noted that 505 Migrants only work with emojis and can not be written or spoken to.
Thea Droggers, coordinator at Watizat, says the system first and foremost helps an immigrant raise a problem without knowing the language: “The main problem is that an immigrant, even when he receives information because he does not know the language, cannot have a problem Solve yourself. “Most of the information distributed or published on the Internet is in French and non-French-speaking immigrants cannot use it.”
Emojis can also help immigrants who know the language but are unable to ask for help. Hard life and extreme poverty put some people in a position to lose themselves and become anxious. According to Thea Droggers, these people are unable to explain an article or write a message or email. On a social tour, Thea Droggers came across an immigrant who said she could not read the textbook they had given her. He said he was exhausted and everything was in his mind.
In the Netherlands, the Refrigeration Friend app lets people identify those who help with housing or food on a map.
In Paris, Migrants 505 currently categorizes about 30 addresses, but its work is set to expand. Thea Droggers says the program will provide housing addresses for women, families and children over the next few months.
Migrants space access number 505: 33 7 56 79 85 05
