Abstract
Abstract. The sharp increase in refugee numbers arriving in the European Union has recently caused major and manifold challenges for the member states and their administrative services. Location based situation reports and maps may support the refugee management from local to European level. The first support is mapping of the geographical distribution of migrating people which needs more or less real time data. The actual data sources are location related observations along the routes of refugees, actual satellite observations and data mining results. These tools and data are used to monitor spatial distributions as well as extrapolate the arrival of refugees for the subsequent weeks. The second support is the short term update of the location of initial registration facilities and first reception facilities, their capacities, and their occupancy. The third management level is the systematic inquiry for unoccupied housing facilities and for empty places within build-up areas. Geo-coded data sets of house numbers have to be cross-referenced with city maps and communal inhabitants address data. The legal aspects of data mining and secured access to personal data are strictly controlled by the administration allowing only limited access and distribution of data and results. However, the paper will not disclose scientific progress in Earth Observation and GIS, but will actually demonstrate an urgently needed new combination of existing methods to support actual needs. The societal benefits of EO/GIS are no longer just potential possibilities, but actual results in real political, administrative and humanitarian day to day reality.
Highlights
The sharp increase in refugee numbers arriving in the European Union has recently caused major and manifold challenges for the member states and their security forces and administrative services
Another approach to the problem had already been launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2003 as a contribution to the joint EU/ESA programme Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES), recently renamed COPERNICUS
The increased number of migrating persons arriving in Central Europe during the last two years has initially created overwhelming sympathy and compassion, but has created an unexpected additional burden for public security and administrations
Summary
The sharp increase in refugee numbers arriving in the European Union has recently caused major and manifold challenges for the member states and their security forces and administrative services. The actual situation of refugees in Europe will require long term collaboration of different member states and in Germany the collaboration at all administrative levels and territorial units. Location based situation reports and maps may support the refugee management from local to European level. Persons arriving at the outer borders of the European Union have mostly endured enormous stress and pain during their migration and have dared to leave their home environment because of severe circumstances of famine, natural hazards, political pressure, ethnical or religious conflicts, warlike operations, destruction of infrastructure and housing and various aspects of living in misery. Before making premature judgements on the quality of those reasons for migration, we should remember that during the last 250 years the reasons for emigrating from Europe, immigrating to Europe and the migrations within Europe due to different wars were comparable to current reasons
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