Ikea And higher refuge Are Sending Flat-percent Housing To Refugees In Greece

When refugees arrive in Greece and stay up for papers—now and again for days—some sleep in tents and some sleep on the bottom. but others have the possibility to try a new situation to remain: Sturdy, flat-packed refugee shelters that can be in-built a few hours.

“it can be safer and extra dignified than a tent. It feels extra like a house,” says Märta Terne from better shelter, a Swedish social enterprise owned through the Housing for All foundation, a nonprofit centered by the Ikea basis. It designed the easy structures in a partnership with Ikea and the UN Refugee agency (UNHCR).

In September, better safe haven introduced over 500 of their new shelters to Lesvos, Greece, the place nearly 1/2 one million refugees have arrived this 12 months from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and different conflict-torn international locations. With a simple frame and panels, each and every safe haven goes collectively speedy with a handful of tools.

“they’re designed to be as easy as imaginable to construct,” says Terne. “I’ve constructed a house many times, and i am no longer a building worker. It in point of fact is really easy to do with no need any of that knowledge prior to.”

The buildings are available in two flat containers, with 4 units of easy directions. “they’re quite similar to Ikea,” she says. “I hear from many people who see them and were to Ikea that that’s the first thing they suspect. however they’re fairly extra sophisticated than a Billy bookcase.”

not like a tent, the shelters have lockable doors. “just with the ability to close a door in the back of you may be very key,” Terne says. “That privacy and that feeling of security is so important.”

As refugees flood into Europe, higher safe haven is constructing shelters as quickly as it could. In places like Macedonia, they serve as first assist clinics or rest stations for youngsters. In Switzerland, native governments have bought the shelters for refugees there (for the reason that shelters are designed for mild weather, the Swiss shelters are inside of a larger warehouse). higher shelter has additionally delivered the houses to Ethiopia, Iraq, and Nepal.

they can’t make the shelters fast sufficient to meet demand, and plenty of extra are wanted. UNHCR sold 10,000 of the shelters past this 12 months, but which is an exceptionally tiny fraction of the just about 60 million refugees world wide who want a safer position to remain. partly, one problem is value: At a little bit over $1,000, the shelters are twice as expensive as a tent.

however over time, since the shelters remaining for much longer (and since refugees incessantly prove living in camps for years and even decades) they would possibly extra more experience. “if you happen to take a look at it long term, it can be in reality less expensive than a tent,” says Terne. “We hope that this may increasingly develop into the standard for how individuals reside in refugee camps.”