Concept, design and implementation of identification and tracking technologies for cooperative refugee management

Abstract

In 2015 and the first months of 2016, the European Union went through one of the most intense streams of refugees since World War II. The refugees came mostly from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East and tried to pass the national borders. One of the most desirable destinations was Germany, followed by Sweden, Norway, and Great Britain. Italy, south-eastern Europe (including Greece), and Austria acted as transit countries. The situation in the refugee camps worsened. The governmental employees and NGOs (Non-governmental organizations) had to face one of the biggest challenges in the refugee crisis. Due to the unfortunate circumstances that occurred in Italian hotspots and other European countries during the crisis in 2015, the author wanted to analyze the needs of a refugee camp. Questions arose like, how to reduce the long queues in front of the refugee camps and facilitate the work for the employees or what are the ethical issues that can emerge in a refugee camp? Moreover, there is a lack of scientific contribution in the field of European refugee camps and those internal processes.The author held several interviews with representatives from the ministries of the interior of different countries (Austria, Germany, and Italy), European Institutions such as EASO and IT experts. The following problems arose: The currently developed Hotspots are not applicable in every country, due to the resources that are needed to maintain such an elaborate refugee camp. Furthermore, it will take time to establish a working and efficient Hotspot when the refugee stream changes. Besides that, every Member State has its own refugee registration and management system. A portable and standardized identification solution, applicable to all regions and countries, could help to respond to refugee stream changes quickly. The target is to understand and define the requirements for a European refugee camp, which could enhance the situation for refugees and employees during challenging periods. The conclusion is to achieve a Europe-wide and centralized system for identifying and collecting information about refugees’ data. Furthermore, an efficient tracking technology could enhance the management and control within the national borders. One of the most important characteristics is fast applicability, simplicity, and portability. Central European software applications, connected to all essential government services (such as Eurodac, SIS), will increase the portability of the system. Moreover, ethical aspects will also be considered for the concept.The proposed prototype includes the system architecture, the acquired requirements and services, use-case diagrams, mock-ups, and a working web application. This doctoral thesis tries to figure out how to create an autonomous registration application with a high focus on portability and fast disaster response. The already mentioned IT experts reviewed the defined requirements and the low-fidelity prototype. Afterwards, the resulting identification, registration, and accompaniment system were implemented as a high-fidelity prototype.