Living in London, the refugee crisis can feel too insurmountable for us to begin to make a difference. In March this year migration through the central Mediterranean was up 300 per cent since last year.
But now there’s a way to help out simply by looking at your smartphone — something that is second nature to Londoners.
The I Sea app allows you to search a “plot” of sea via satellite images for migrants in trouble. If you spot anything, type what you think it is and co-ordinates are sent to the charity Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) so that they can analyse the information and if necessary send a boat to help.
It’s more productive than playing Candy Crush.
I Sea is a collaboration between MOAS and design firm Grey Group. MOAS uses two ships and two drones to monitor the sea. Its drones can stay in the air for six hours and cover 97 nautical miles per flight. But they need help if MOAS is to keep tabs on 2.5 million km² of water.
The project works on a similar premise to Tomnod, which crowdsourced the search for the lost Malaysian Airlines flight 370.
Checking a plot takes no more than one minute. You can also donate to MOAS through the app. The charity has rescued more than 1,800 men, women and children on the crossing between Turkey and Greece since last December.
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I spend a few minutes of my lunch break on the app. It’s addictive and colleagues ask what I’m doing.
Ian Ruggier, MOAS’s head of operations, says: “If this app is what we are hoping it will be, it will be part of a growing wave of ideas that connect concerned people to those in distress, regardless of place or language.”
Follow Susannah Butter on Twitter: @susannahbutter
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