Can Bitcoin Technology Solve the Migrant Crisis?
REFUGEES FROM WAR-TORN NATIONS often give up everything they have in an attempt to create a better future for themselves and their families. But in addition to the jobs, property and relations they leave behind, these migrants give up something far more fundamental: their legal identity.
As they leave their country of origin, refugees will often have their government IDs confiscated and their bank accounts wiped out. Without proof of citizenship, legally speaking, they cease to exist. This loss of identity is compounded by a loss of access to critical social and economic infrastructure—including the international banking system.
A lack of ID creates huge problems for the border countries taking in refugees and the relief organizations trying to help them. The situation with the Syrian crisis is aggravated by the fight against terrorism. Are these people who they claim to be? Where did they come from? Who is a danger and who is not?
Most of these questions could be answered by blockchain technology, a common ledger that each party can view in the same way that multiple users can work on shared computer documents. With a blockchain distributed database, when a Syrian refugee arrives in Greece, border authorities could check her identity on their copy of the ledger housing her ID and even her biometric data. And because the ledger is tamper-proof, she would be able to present a much more compelling story of who she is, where she’s been and who she knows. Furthermore, because blockchain technology allows for anonymity as well as transparency, she could choose to reveal only as much about herself as required for the transaction she wished to undertake.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/can-bitcoin-technology-solve-the-migrant-crisis-1465395474
