Investigating Technology Concepts to Support Rohingya Refugees in Malaysia

The Rohingya ethnic group is one of the most persecuted minorities, whose specific circumstances pose unique and interesting challenges. The digital revolution is transforming the world and is leaving refugees behind (UNHCR). In this paper, we present a multiphase user centred approach we used to explore how Rohingya refugees could access assistance by utilizing technology they already have or share; both early on and long after they arrived in a new country. The findings we present from phase 1, which was an early participatory design phase, were confirmed and endorsed by the Rohingya community, UNHCR and local charities during phase 3. These findings, suggest that concepts aiming to assist Rohingya refugees should primarily focus on: safety, social capital, upskilling, and language translation. Finally, we present the iterative user centred design, implementation, and evaluation of one of these concepts focusing on safety, before being deployed within the Rohingya community in Malaysia.