A Syrian entrepreneur has developed an app to disseminate all available refugee services for Syrians in countries such as Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Turkey. Syrian refugees now number 2.5 million, and Syrians are on track to become the largest refugee population in the world due to the war that has ravaged the country for the last three years. In response to these staggering figures, Syrian entrepreneur Jahed Akil has developed 8rbtna, an app available for iOS and Android as well as a Facebook page, to disseminate all available refugee services for Syrians in host countries, especially Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, KSA, and Turkey, which host the largest number of Syrian refugees. Vailable in the Syrian dialect, 8rbtna (which means ‘our immigration’ in English) aggregates various details of interest to Syrians in these foreign countries. Akil says: “the project periodically publishes job offers found on websites or received by mail from companies looking for employees via our services. We also provide information on the latest governmental decisions related to Syrians in the hosting countries such as grants for schools and universities, required documents, residency, transportation, cost of living, Syrian passport renewal costs, embassies addresses, guest cards in Turkey and how to get them, etc.” The website and application also give users the chance to offer their services or ask help from one of the members. The source of inspiration for this project was Akil’s personal experience. Almost a year ago, he was forced to flee to Turkey, cutting short his 4th year of studies in computer engineering. Since launching 8rbtna last January, and despite a weak marketing effort (due to lack of resources), the app has been downloaded 5,000 times on Android, and 2,500 on iOS. The website has logged 7,000 visits, and the Facebook page has 11,000 likes.
