Facebook is doing major good for refugees

We certainly “like” this. In the midst of the Syrian refugee crisis, in which tons of Syrians are fleeing their home country in search of better lives, Facebook has decided to provide an invaluable service to aid them during this stressful process: Free WiFi for UN camps.

This may sound very millennial, but it’s actually a huge deal. Refugees who have fled their home arrive at their new countries with nothing — that is if they even make it into the country at all. Free WiFi provides access to the rest of the world. It’s a way to let their families know they are okay.

Mark Zuckerberg presented this news at a UN forum in New York, explaining:

Those who are in the refugee camps know how invaluable this kind of technology is. It’s not just a means of communication, but also education. Refugees are in these camps for an indeterminant amount of time. Things like school, and anything else resembling a normal life, were thrown out the window the moment they decided to leave. But that doesn’t have to be the case.

Naserddine Touaibia, Public Information and Mass Communication Officer for UNHCR, fully supports this initiative. He told Mashable:

It also mean that people like Touaibia will be able to do their jobs even better:

Because of the sheer scale of this crisis, it’s unclear how or when Facebook will roll out this initiative. What is clear is that this crisis isn’t going away, and it’s great that we have big companies like Facebook willing to lend a helping hand.

(Image via iStock.)