UNHCR, Malaysian firm launch mobile app on refugee struggle

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – The U.N. refugee agency and a Malaysian firm have launched an interactive smartphone application aimed at raising public awareness and empathy about the worldwide struggle of refugees.

The “Finding Home” mobile application was developed by advertising firm Grey Malaysia. It is based on the fictional story of a Myanmar Muslim teenager forced to flee her homeland and her struggle to survive in Malaysia.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees representative Richard Towles said Tuesday that the application will let users “walk a mile in a refugee’s shoes in order to understand what they go through every day in order to find safety.”

The UNHCR says there are more than 150,000 asylum seekers and refugees in Malaysia. About 36,000 of them are below the age of 18.