World Refugee Day 2010

Last year, VSee helped Angelina Jolie, Ann Curry, and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, talk with refugees from Chad and other locations around the world.

VSee is proud to help do it again this year.

There are over 30 million refugees around the world.  They have been forced from their homes by disasters or violence.

Iraqi Refugee Children in Syria

Amongst the events planned to celebrate World Refugee Day (June 20th), the State Department on Friday, June 18, will host, via VSee videoconference, High Commissioner Guterres and several recognizable figures who have traveled to refugee sites around the world.   The event will be moderated by Scott Pelley of 60 Minutes.  Watch it on www.refugeedaylive.org, and please support the UNHCR.

VSee will provide live video from Africa, South America and the Middle East, linking the sites with a live audience at the State Department.

Milton with VSee/Inmarsat BGAN kit

Just yesterday, VSee already hosted a video discussion with Susan, a Chin refugee and humanitarian aid worker in Kuala Lumpur, in the first WRD 2010 event.  On Sunday the 20th (World Refugee Day itself), the High Commissioner will be giving a press conference via VSee from his location.  Go to www.refugeedaylive.org to watch.

Refugee camps are often isolated physically and lack modern communications infrastructure.  VSee solved this problem using a 3G cellular network or an Inmarsat BGAN satellite terminal at the refugee location to create a WiFi cloud connected to the Internet.  The VSee software then provides secure multi-party video calling, application sharing, and file transfers.   The overall solution requires little training and all equipment fits in a small backpack.

“Video collaboration is often hard to set up and usually not secure.  VSee makes secure video collaboration as simple as email,” added Milton Chen, CEO of VSee Lab, Inc.  “We are honored to participate a second year with World Refugee Day.”

“BGAN solutions allow isolated field teams to enjoy state-of-the art voice and data connectivity anywhere in the world,” noted Jack Deasy, Director, Civil Programs, Inmarsat Government Services, Inc.  “Inmarsat is honored to support the UNHRC in drawing attention to the needs of these vulnerable communities.”