
A 21st-Century Migrant’s Essentials: Food, Shelter, Smartphone - phodo
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/26/world/europe/a-21st-century-migrants-checklist-water-shelter-smartphone.html
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ousta
wouldn't it be sane to not put all migrants in the same group. Shouldn't we
differentiate people that want to escape a warzone to save their lives, often
people without any cellphones, without money, who lost everything and are not
necessarly middle class but lower income people who bring their families with
them to SURVIVE and people who have fancy cellphones and are now in a safe
country (ex:turkey) and want to come to europe only for economic purposes
leaving by side their families to make some money and bring them when they get
enough $$$?

as such the article would focus only on the second part. the first part being
the one stuck in syria who can't even afford the thousand dollars trip to
europe, who can't even afford to be a fancy cover story of the sacro-saint
newyork times

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usrusr
Why would a person fleeing a war zone leave behind their smartphone? That's
the second thing to grab before running, right after your passport. For most
of humanity, smartphones are not a symptom of abundance, they are a symptom of
not having a desktop computer, laptop computer or landline.

~~~
vinceguidry
The answer was given in the article. Soldiers ask for your Facebook password
at checkpoints to check your allegiance in the war. If you don't give it,
you'll often get beaten or your phone stolen / destroyed.

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jkot
There is other side of this. Most migrants do not apply for asylum, but hide
their identity, so they can not be deported. In that case my country (Czech
republic) usually confiscates their possessions to cover their living
expenses.

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dodyg
I do some work for IOM. The majority of people crossing Europe right now comes
from countries where refugee status is granted (Syria, Somalia, Eritrea).

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jkot
Yes, but according to Dublin treaty asylum should be granted in state where
refugee enters EU. And Greece is not so sexy. Most people want into Germany
because benefits are much higher in there.

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danharaj
I think using the term 'not sexy' to describe a nation that is undergoing
internal conflict and massive economic contraction is using the wrong
connotations. Refugees flee a terrible life to find stability. Not even native
Greeks have stability. Clearly the EU refugee rules are not fair to border
nations. It seems that yet again the rules of the EU benefit the richest, most
powerful countries most.

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chvid
These rules are in practice ignored by the receiving countries and the
northern european countries accept this.

That is why Germany will receive nearly a million refugees this year and
probably more next year.

The political (and economic) implications are massive and in many ways this is
more disrupting for the european project than the crisis in Greece.

~~~
dodyg
Being granted refugee status != being resettled. They can be sent home when
the situation improves.

Germany(80 million), France(64), UK(64) have the capacity to absorb most of
the refugees, compared to smaller European nations (below 10 millions)

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meatysnapper
That's ridiculous. A million refugees a year is a massive burden for a country
of any size.

The refugees should be sent to Russia. There is plenty of room there. Or maybe
China, since they have so many ghost buildings.

Complain about Mexicans all you want, but you got Tequila + Senioritas + Very
similar culture and values. The refugees Europe is getting, not so much. No
bueno!

~~~
brillenfux
You are the kind of person I'm patiently waiting for to be able to downvote.

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DorothyS
No wonder. A cell phone has penetrated into our lives so deeply that it
literally hits the list of items people cannot do without. It’s one of a few
things that make us come back and take if forgotten at home. However,
connecting people in the distance, it at the same time increases this same
distance making people feel even more lonely.

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iamcurious
_“If you didn’t give the soldiers your Facebook password, they would beat you,
destroy your phone or worse,” Mr. Aljasem said._

xkcd was right [https://xkcd.com/538/](https://xkcd.com/538/)

~~~
venomsnake
Thermorectal crypto analysis - breaks arbitrary lenght passwords in constant
time.

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_nedR
The article mentions one Mohammad Salmoni, 21 who travelled from Kabul,
Afghanisthan through Iran to Belgrade, possibly on foot most of the way, with
little else other than his smartphone ( and probably without any id, let alone
a passport).

>"It was Very Dangerous"

Not to trivialize the hell he must have gone through, but that sounds like the
adventure of a lifetime. Gives fresh perspective on the word 'adventure'.

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thfuran
It sounds like the adventure of the lifetime if you know that at any point you
could take your credit card out of your pocket and buy something you needed,
or a plane ticket home. If not, it sounds terrible.

