ODR4Refugees through a Smartphone App

The idea of resolving disputes alternatively (i.e., out of the conventional court procedures) has gained great popularity over the last twenty years. Indeed, the word ‘alternative’ has itself been questioned by many as to whether it accurately describes a procedure that is older than litigation¹xDisputes existed and were resolved long before the establishment of the courts of law. Societies had internal mechanisms of settling disagreements between their members for various issues using processes similar to mediation, aided by the wisdom of the eldest of the village or following deeply rooted traditions. In villages of Syria, parties to the dispute and other prominent villagers and relatives would be invited and sit in a circle on the floor to discuss how they could resolve amicably their dispute. and is used more and more every day. After alternative dispute resolution (ADR) had been living for many years in the shadow of the law, we are now reaching a point where ADR is rightfully shortened to DR which includes judicial and extrajudicial options for those who wish to resolve their disputes.
Online dispute resolution (ODR), on the other hand, has not been around for very long. Still, over the last two decades and thanks to millions of working hours and money spent by those who always place themselves ahead of time, it has managed to survive barren years, to overcome denial and strong criticism and be acknowledged as the future in resolving disputes.²xProbably experiencing all four stages which Colin Rule has nicely described for any innovative idea that goes public, i.e., at the beginning nobody cares about it, then they make fun of it, then they start questioning its use and at the end they say that they were in favour of it ever since the beginning.
It is one of these exceptional capabilities of ODR technology that the ODR4Refugees application envisages to bring in the very sensitive area of refugees by providing an online tool for resolving their disputes.

• 1 Refugees in Mediation

  The idea of offering mediation services to refugees started in May 2016 when the International Academy of Dispute Resolution (INADR)³xINADR (International Academy of Dispute Resolution) <www.inadr.org/> Watch photo gallery at <www.inadr.org/2016-athens-mediaion-tournament-photos/>. and the Greek Mediation Institute (GMI)⁴x<http://gmi-mediation.com/?lang=en>, the first not-for-profit organization for the promotion of mediation established in Greece by Dr. Elena Koltsaki and Nana Papadogeorgaki, having an international exposure by participating and running training programs in various places of the world. organized the Athens Mediation Tournament for students and universities. The event attracted huge publicity⁵x See article at the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin titled: Learning Peacemaking Skills from Syrian Refugees in Greece at <www.odreurope.com/news/stories/mediation/1264-a-story-about-syrian-refugees-and-mediation>. and has been one of the most successful events ever organized by INADR. It was hosted by Deree, The American College of Greece and ALBA Business School and was supported by ODReurope⁶x<www.odreurope.com>, ODReurope is a point of reference for Greece and Europe for online mediation and negotiations as well as the use of technology in resolving disputes. ODReurope is part of ADR point – Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution, a private ADR body established with the approval of the Ministry of Finance and Development and an Official Alternative Dispute Resolution entity notified to the European Commission according to Directive 2013/11/EU and registered with the European ODR Platform, <www.adrpoint.com>. and the Greek Association of Mediators.⁷x<www.sedi.gr>, the largest Association of Mediators in Greece. It was then that we felt that it would be of great value to invite refugee-students to participate in the competition. We could promote awareness about the refugee crisis, show a living example of the lack of peacemaking and give refugee-students a networking environment with their counterparts from more than twenty countries that could change their lives.
  After getting the permission of the ministry, we contacted several refugee camps and asked them to make a selection of candidates who would be interested in participating in the competition. Although we made every possible effort to get women refugees on board this project, it proved extremely difficult mainly due to cultural reasons and traditional values. After interviewing several refugees, we finally recruited six young Syrian refugees from a refugee camp in Thessaloniki. We provided them with clothing, food, accommodation, transfer fees, pocket money and everything needed to make them feel that they were at the same starting line as the other students. We trained them in mediation and formed two teams to participate in the competition. To our surprise,⁸x I.e., they had no previous mediation training or experience compared to well-prepared teams coming from big universities. they performed exceptionally well.⁹xOne of the teams reached the semi-finals; however, the other team regretfully had to withdraw as at the day of the competition, the Syrian village of two of its members was bombarded by ISIS and they had no news from their families. We had long discussions with them about mediation and the conditions they lived in. We discussed the profile of the average refugee, their social status in the home country, their experiences from living in camps and everyday life stories, which are common to all refugees. Visiting several refugee camps and monitoring the refugee crisis in Greece for almost two years, we have also noticed that refugees had not and still do not have access to easy dispute resolution mechanisms and although they barely had proper clothing, they all had smartphones as they were easy to carry with them, giving them the opportunity to communicate and stay connected with those left behind or relocated. So, this was the time we decided, to develop a smartphone application for refugees that could create the environment for ODR.

• 2 Easy ODR

  The ODR4Refugees App does not focus on refugees permanently established in the country of their final destination.¹⁰xSome refugees will settle in the country they arrived, while others may be relocated to other destinations for permanent residence. Such refugees will gain access to state and private facilities and structures including dispute resolution mechanisms, as they are gradually incorporated into their new environment. The App may provide a different module at a later stage to accommodate this need in the context of offering intercultural dispute resolution services. For the moment, we have focused on all those refugees who are on the move or reside temporarily in refugee camps all over the world and have not yet settled permanently as well as on thousands of them who have to move all the time and live in inhuman conditions. According to UNHCR,¹¹xUNHCR, Global Trends. Forced Displacement in 2015, 20 June 2016, p. 2. the global displaced population at the end of 2015 was almost 65.3 million,¹²x16.1 million refugees outside their home countries, 5.2 million Palestinian refugees inside and outside Palestinian territories, 3.2 million asylum seekers outside their home countries whose applications had not yet been decided by the end of 2015, 40.8 million internally displaced persons inside their home countries. the highest number recorded since the aftermath of World War II. It is also very impressive to see the nationalities of the refugees, with almost 10 million refugees coming from Syria and Palestine.¹³xTurkey, Pakistan and Lebanon host more than 5 million refugees. To give a clearer picture of the flow of refugees over the last eight years in the Mediterranean area,¹⁴xThe Eastern Mediterranean route encompasses detections at the Greek sea borders, the Greek and Bulgarian land borders with Turkey and the Cypriot sea borders. The Central Mediterranean route encompasses detections at the Italian and Maltese sea borders. Only in 2015, illegal crossings to Greece added to almost 0.9 million. illegal border crossings to Greece has amounted to 1.3 million and to Italy to 0.7 million.¹⁵xAll calculations are based on Frontex data, see Annual Risk Analysis 2016, 5 April 2016, p. 17 and for 2016 see Frontex Migratory Routes Map.
  Monitoring the refugee crisis in Greece over the past two years, we have noticed that even though access to basic facilities was limited for all refugees, yet the use of technology was still available through third generation smartphones as they were easy to carry and use, always keeping in mind that all their personal belongings must fit in a rack sack, maybe not even that. Therefore, our research focused on what we call ‘easy ODR’, which would enable them to get easy access to information and to ADR services, adjusted to the special conditions they lived in. It was exactly this idea that inspired us to start developing a smartphone application that could create the environment for dispute resolution, with all the main features at the first basic version and more components added in due course.

• 3 Main Areas of Disputes

  The App focuses mainly on four areas of disputes¹⁶xMore areas of conflict will be added in due course, which will be drawn from the overall App statistics and the actual mediation cases and the disputes reported in the system. as we monitored them taking place in refugees communities:
  

  1. Conflicts between refugees: conflicts arising from the relationships between residents of the refugee camp having to share space, food, rooms or tents, cleaning, cooking and other facilities and services. We had to develop a smooth, non-adversarial resolution process, to find a way to absorb the enormous tensions existing between refugees that would allow them to settle their disputes amicably for the benefit of the whole community.

  2. Intercultural conflicts: almost all (or most of the) refugees carry with them stereotypes and strong values from their home country of cultural, religious and social context. There have been many instances of hostility between refugees from different countries and social backgrounds, different religion, different social status.

  3. Conflicts between refugees and the local community: refugees living in open-type camps are participating in the everyday life of the local community (citizens, shop keepers, other professionals, home owners, etc.). As parties are coming from different social and ethnic backgrounds, with different codes of conduct, conflicts often arise between them (where the refugee is usually in a weaker position), with the underlying reasons for the conflicts often being discrimination, poverty, lack of communication, etc.

  4. Conflicts between refugees and the camp administration: the relationship between refugees and the administration officials in the camp is very often a source of conflict itself due to various daily routine issues such as lack of proper care, slow pace of relocation interviews, long delays in queues, overcrowded camps, poor facilities, rules and regulations, attitudes of personnel and so on.

• 4 Basic Admissions

  Before deciding to move forward with the App, we had to make some basic admissions so as to find out where we are and where we wish to go. We needed to make clear that the ODR4Refugees App does not offer access to courts. It simply offers access to ADR. The process might end up in an agreement which will be fair from the parties’ perspective but it is not to be equated with judicial redress. Refugees, almost in their entirety, will not be willing to resort to litigation for anything they feel might impair their chances of being relocated to another country, not to mention the expenses involved and the time delays. However, legal aid could be provided for those seeking judicial redress, as part of the same App, but only at a later stage.¹⁷xThere will be a statistical analysis of the cases referred to mediation, the fields of law they concern and the rates of success and see if legal aid should be added as a feature of the App.
  Obviously, the App is such a novel idea that one would not aim at specific numbers and rates. We know that ODR is still an advanced idea for the western societies. It obviously is even more sophisticated for refugee communities. Yet, the fact that they are registered by the authorities¹⁸xWe plan to work alongside the Ministries of Immigration and the Frontex to ensure that data of the refugees is provided for information purposes and for making the App known to all of them. when they enter the host country and they form a specific group with very distinct characteristics allows us to experiment with the power of ODR, as they are spending most of their time using their smartphone which can definitely be used as an appropriate communication channel.
  The App has a wider value of promoting peacemaking in resolving disputes. Refugees can appreciate the value of peace, even in the context of their small community. They have been through very dramatic experiences. They have risked their lives, they are away from home, they found themselves in uncharted waters and they are living in poor conditions. They are vulnerable, frightened, desperate and exhausted. It is very normal for their judgment and patience to have also been affected and they may overreact to daily problems. We need to offer them an easy mechanism to prevent and resolve their daily disputes and we feel that it would be much easier for them to trust a process with the use of technology which would bear the validity of large multinational institutions.¹⁹xWe have already made communication with The UNHCR, the Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship of the European Commission and foreign governments inviting them to support the project in a way which will ensure expansion and sustainability.
  The App content will make no references to peacemaking ideas coming from any religious background in order to minimize the risk of religious differences that could hinder the whole project. As we need a flow of messages for the values of ADR, the application will send notifications from famous peace quotations and anonymous refugee cases that have been resolved, so as to motivate refugees to behave peacefully and always examine ADR as their first option before allowing a conflict to escalate to a non-return point.
  The number of refugees is growing every day and is expected to ‘feed’ the dispute industry with thousands of cases. This workload should be dealt with in a simple and fast manner. The App is being built in a way to fit within any refugee context, and in every place of the world, and will be translated into many languages and be supported by a wide network of mediators.²⁰xThe expansion plan provides a central administration located in Greece, because of the vicinity with areas of turmoil in the Mediterranean Sea and the establishment of regional offices which will provide services locally, starting from the countries which are points of entry for refugees (Spain, Italy, Turkey, Bulgaria) and then selectively expand to places where a high volume of refugee is monitored by governments and the UNHCR. Authorities, mediation schemes and NGOs will be utilized for setting up and operating the new structures.
  The App will serve a dual purpose. The obvious one is to resolve disputes online. Refugees will have easy access to a friendly online environment where they can resolve their disputes. The second purpose is to prevent disputes or prevent their escalation to serious conflicts which can adversely impact the parties of the dispute.²¹xSerious incidents have been monitored in refugee camps, even violence between refugees. We will strive to make the App the first option refugees resort to when faced with a dispute and to this end we will include information about penalties for most common offences of the host country.²²xThe idea is to create a list of the most common offences and the penalties they carry in the country the refugee is temporarily settled. This way the refugees will be able to see the consequences of their possible actions, be deterred from being engaged is such conduct, while at the same time the system will offer them the option of mediation to resolve their dispute.
  The process will have no formalities, no minutes will be kept, no agreement to mediate will be signed, and the settlement agreement will not be in writing – only a shake of hands if they are face to face or meet at a later stage, or a mutual apology or compromise reached on the smartphone screen. An online notification that an agreement has been reached will be sent to both sides calling them to honour it and praising them for their contribution to a peaceful dialogue. We wish to keep the process simple and fast.
  Download and use of the application will be free for all refugees. What we aim at is to decrease the number of disputes refugees may have, to show them a peaceful way of settlement which they of all people can appreciate, and to use technology to meet this goal.²³xAs most or all of the dispute resolution process will be made through smartphones, for those who do not have one or have issues of connectivity we will invite large telecommunication companies and internet providers to consider placing the project under their corporate social responsibility programs and contribute in their field of operations and expertise. Refugees will be electronically informed in entry points and in camps for the ODR4Refugees App and the role it can play in their new life.
  The App will have a friendly interface and many innovative features and will be very easy to use even for those who have limited knowledge of technology. The system will guide the refugee through simple steps, in a language he speaks, by clicking or selecting options. There will be no need for training for the users who would simply need to download the App in their smartphone, like any other App, and start using it.
  Refugees come in thousands and most of them are temporarily settled in open-type camps, which mean that they are allowed to move freely within the territory of the host country. The App will have the technical ability to monitor the location of refugees,²⁴xThe App will use geolocation tools, with the consent of the user and for as long as the refugee retains the refugee status. for as long as they have the refugee status, for security and administrative purposes and response to their needs, with due respect to all relevant laws. Personal data of refugees who will use the application will be limited to their names and communication details and will be processed with due respect to all applicable laws.²⁵xAs for many of the refugees is very likely that they will not be relocated and will settle permanently in the country, the App will also have the ability to add a technical component which will include personal skills, qualifications and working experience so that we can be informed of the education and social level of the refugee and at the same time be able to link this information to the local labour market. This will serve as a very good incentive for refugees to use the App.

• 5 Main Features

  The main features of the application include personalized texts, language selection, dispute menu, automatic appointment of mediator, case filing, video, audio and text communication, App notifications, statistics and many more.
  

  • Personalized texts: the App will use personalized texts to make the refugee feel that he is entering a friendly environment which he can trust and that behind the technology there are people and specialists who can help him resolve his dispute.²⁶xThe App will use the refugee’s first name in all communications as well as phrases showing empathy and willingness to help him and protect him. Trust in the system is a top priority.

  • Language selection: the App will be translated into several languages and more will be added in the course of its operation. The basic languages will be Greek, Turkish, Italian, Spanish and Arabic.²⁷xThe App focusses for the moment at the major Syrian refugee crisis and the four European countries mostly affected by it. We may need to add later on Pashto or Dari (Afghanistan) and Urdu (Pakistan) as well as other languages of refugee ethnicities from all over the world. Users will be asked to choose the main language which may be their mother tongue as well as to confirm that they can conduct the discussions in English in case there are no available mediators who speak their language.

  • Dispute menu: the user will have four options of disputes to choose from, i.e., conflicts between refugees, intercultural conflicts, conflicts between refugees and the local community, and conflicts between refugees and the camp administration. They will all appear in the menu together with the option ‘other’ to cover disputes left outside²⁸xIf by examining the case statistics find that there is a frequent category of disputes missing, we will accordingly modify the basic dispute menu to include it. and an extra field (optional) where they will be required to describe the dispute in a few lines.

  • Automatic appointment of mediator: once the user has filled in all the required fields, the system will process all the data and will appoint a mediator from a list of mediators.²⁹xThe App will be supported by an extended network of online mediators who will be trained and be available to handle such disputes. System will appoint the most appropriate mediator matching several criteria such as nationality, languages spoken, vicinity to the location of the refugees, topic of the dispute, gender of the parties, etc. Two options, ‘ACCEPT’ and ‘REFUSE’, will be available for the user, each explaining what it stands for. In case of acceptance, the process will move on to the next stages. In case of refusal, the cases will be closed and filed. As most online mediators will be professionals with no relation to the refugee communities, we have opted for a simple selection process with the right to ask for the appointment of a new mediator (‘APPOINT NEW MEDIATOR’) reserved only for cases where mediators have the same origin as the parties and issues of neutrality may arise. The refugee could see the photo, the profile and the communication details of the mediator. Mediator will then communicate with the other side to convey the request for mediation. The refugee who has gone over the filing process could then be able to see the full profile of the appointed mediator.

  • Case filing: the system will have a dashboard for the administration of all incoming cases which will be numbered. Refugees will have access to their personal cases and mediators only to the cases they handled. All files will be available to the main administrator. The App will inform refugees of the progress made in their case and will send a personalized message about the outcome.³⁰xIn case a settlement has been reached, the App will thank parties for their efforts, remind them that they have saved money, time, litigation and trouble and ask them to share their experience with other refugees. In case no settlement has been reached, the app will inform parties that their efforts did not result in a settlement, that they must now both examine the options ahead which could involve money, time and litigation and that if they decide to take one more step further for resolving their case they can always call their mediator.

  • Video, audio and text communication: As smartphones will be the main communication channel, the refugee will be free to choose the preferable way of communication from a variety of tools. The mediation process can be conducted online through smartphones by video conference, through a chat tool, through social media and many other ways.³¹xThe resolution process will be conducted through VIDEO MEDIATION (mediator sends both parties an invitation LINK to online mediation), AUDIO MEDIATION (which involves phone conferences, private discussions over phone, Skype calls, etc.) and TEXT BASED MEDIATION (which involves email, Viber, SMS, WhatsApp, Messenger, Facebook). It is our firm belief that there cannot be a better context for implementing Ethan Katsh’s ‘Fourth Party’³²xProfessor Ethan Katsh is widely recognized as one of the founders of the field of online dispute resolution (ODR). The frequently mentioned metaphor of technology as a ‘Fourth Party’ was first proposed in Katsh and Rifkin’s Online Dispute Resolution (2001). <http://odr.info/ethan-katsh/>. concept than using it in this highly valued social priority and giving the opportunity to help millions of refugees. The App does not in any way aim to replace face-to-face communication when circumstances allow or dictate so. Refugees can use the App to file a dispute and the mediator will decide to meet in person with the parties if possible and if he feels that this would benefit the resolution process. Our view is that ODR could be very effective when it comes to refugees. They can easily file a case through the App, they can mediate online avoiding unnecessary tensions with the other side or exposure to the refugee community, they have easy access to a mediator and most importantly they have a tool that gives them continuous access to dispute resolution services, as they are on the move.

  • App notifications: the App will send to the user-refugees notifications of peace quotations, stories of cases that have been resolved through the App and valuable information about new features of the App, upgrades and related material.

  • Statistics: the App will keep data statistics of each incoming case.³³xDownloads, number of incoming cases, type of conflict, resolution time needed, reason for not reaching a settlement, outcome of the case, nationality of parties, age, gender, refugee camp, language used, technology used, etc. The results will be used to improve the overall process and make any necessary improvements and useful additions. Statistics will also provide useful information in order to assess the responsiveness of the refugee community to the use of the App by measuring the number of downloads. Refugees who have participated in the dispute resolution process will be able at the end of the process to evaluate the App.

• 6 Online Mediators and the Resolution Process

  The application will be supported by a wide network of mediators located in several countries. Mediators who will be qualified through a selection process will attend an advanced training program which will include mediation for refugee disputes, intercultural mediation, diplomacy and negotiations.³⁴xThe selection process is organized and coordinated by the Greek Mediation Institute, which has an extended experience in mediation training and has participated in many global projects. We will also use many mediators from the refugee community who will undergo similar training.³⁵xThe ODR4Refugees project will utilize members of the refugee communities who have the ability and the profile to act as mediators, as we believe that their cultural and ethnic background could benefit the resolution process. A series of courses will be organized in cooperation with governments and mediation centres³⁶xIdeally, we would like such initiative to be under the auspices of the UNHCR and the European Commission. and a pool of mediators will be created in several countries, starting from Europe and gradually expanding to other territories.³⁷xAt the beginning, most of the mediators will come from the three countries which are entry points for refugees (Greece, Italy and Turkey) but will also include some high-esteemed mediators from other countries around the world. Gradually, as the use of the App expands to other territories faced with a refugee crisis, more mediators will join the list. At the same time, regional offices will be established in those places to administrate more efficiently the flow of cases. The App will be very simple to use. Refugees are practically guided by the application to select from a list the type of their dispute and if they wish to describe the issue in a couple of lines. Then they will be asked to add their contact details and those of the other side. The system processes all the data and appoints a mediator from a list of mediators who communicate with both sides. The whole mediation process will be conducted online from their smartphones through any text, video or audio communication tool available to all participants. The mediator can use joint or separate sessions to try to facilitate the dialogue between the parties. An online notification that an agreement has been reached will be sent to both parties calling them to honour the agreement and thanking them for their contribution to a positive result; or in case where no agreement has been reached, an invitation to reconsider the option of trying further an extrajudicial settlement before taking any other actions. Refugees will evaluate the App and the process and the App will record all the statistics of the case.

• 7 Values and Acknowledgements

  We need to emphasize that the ODR4Refugees project is a not-for-profit project to the very last cent that will be donated or invested in it! The platform is not commercial and it will never become commercial. The application will only have this particular use and serve this very purpose. We are confident that the ODR4Refugees project will contribute to the ODR history by trying to ‘insert’ online dispute resolution into such a sensitive field! The project is managed by ODReurope, the online section of ADR point³⁸xA private ADR body licensed by the Ministry of Economy and Development, notified to the European Commission and registered to the EU ODR platform. It has an Advisory Board consisting of prominent members of the global ADR-ODR community, academics, negotiations and mediation professionals as well as lead experts in ODR. and is coordinated by a team of experts in IT, mediation, planning, marketing, networking, media and communication, funding and human resources. A special account has been opened especially for sponsorships and contributions and at the same time we have installed a system of accountability and transparency for every cent spent in the project, keeping detailed records of incoming and outgoing transfers which will be available to all major contributors and sponsors.³⁹xPrivate contributions and sponsorships will be directed to developing and maintaining the App, establishing the required facilities (administration, central and regional offices, experts and personnel, etc.), funding the digital campaign and distribution of material, localization, setting up a global network of mediators as well as launching a program to train refugees in order to mediate disputes in their own communities. For more information, please visit <www.odreurope.com/odr4refugees> or email us at odr4refugees@odreurope.com. ODR4Refugees was first announced at the Paris 2017 ODR conference in June and the world ODR community and many organizations have already embraced the idea and expressed their interest to support it and to contribute to give the project a wider global exposure. Ethan Katsh and Leah Wing (National Center for Technology and Dispute Resolution-USA), Mireze Philippe (ICC), Orna Rabinovich-Einy (University of Haifa), Colin Rule and Chittu Nagarajan (Modria and Tyler Technologies), Alberto Elisavetsky (ODR Latinoamerica), Aura Esther Vilalta (Open University of Catalonia), Amy Schmitz (University of Missouri), Daniel Rainey (Holistic Solutions, Inc. and Fourth Party Solutions 4PS) are among those who must be credited for being the first to give our project a stand and also a starting point for the roadshow which is already under way to inform governments, private corporations, international organizations, NGOs and major stakeholders worldwide in an effort to attract public and private funding and make the ODR4Refugees a reality for millions of refugees.

• 8 The Future

  ODR4Refugees represents a whole school of thinking. We have made our world very complicated. Too much bureaucracy, too many formalities, too long procedures. We need to shift to a simpler world. Moving out of courts for resolving disputes is a step towards that direction. Using technology to achieve that is an even bigger step. Simplicity can be the new trend, the new vision for the future. It can give us back the precious time we are now wasting. We would like to see the ODR movement growing and be implemented more and more in the conflict industry. If our life time is so limited, we need to make dispute resolution fast and easy. The ODR4Refugees App could make a difference for millions of refugees worldwide.

  It is about a noble cause. It is about a social innovation. It is about technology serving peace.

Noten

• 1 Disputes existed and were resolved long before the establishment of the courts of law. Societies had internal mechanisms of settling disagreements between their members for various issues using processes similar to mediation, aided by the wisdom of the eldest of the village or following deeply rooted traditions. In villages of Syria, parties to the dispute and other prominent villagers and relatives would be invited and sit in a circle on the floor to discuss how they could resolve amicably their dispute.

• 2 Probably experiencing all four stages which Colin Rule has nicely described for any innovative idea that goes public, i.e., at the beginning nobody cares about it, then they make fun of it, then they start questioning its use and at the end they say that they were in favour of it ever since the beginning.

• 3 INADR (International Academy of Dispute Resolution) <www.inadr.org/> Watch photo gallery at <www.inadr.org/2016-athens-mediaion-tournament-photos/>.

• 4 <http://gmi-mediation.com/?lang=en>, the first not-for-profit organization for the promotion of mediation established in Greece by Dr. Elena Koltsaki and Nana Papadogeorgaki, having an international exposure by participating and running training programs in various places of the world.

• 5 See article at the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin titled: Learning Peacemaking Skills from Syrian Refugees in Greece at <www.odreurope.com/news/stories/mediation/1264-a-story-about-syrian-refugees-and-mediation>.

• 6 <www.odreurope.com>, ODReurope is a point of reference for Greece and Europe for online mediation and negotiations as well as the use of technology in resolving disputes. ODReurope is part of ADR point – Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution, a private ADR body established with the approval of the Ministry of Finance and Development and an Official Alternative Dispute Resolution entity notified to the European Commission according to Directive 2013/11/EU and registered with the European ODR Platform, <www.adrpoint.com>.

• 7 <www.sedi.gr>, the largest Association of Mediators in Greece.

• 8 I.e., they had no previous mediation training or experience compared to well-prepared teams coming from big universities.

• 9 One of the teams reached the semi-finals; however, the other team regretfully had to withdraw as at the day of the competition, the Syrian village of two of its members was bombarded by ISIS and they had no news from their families.

• 10 Some refugees will settle in the country they arrived, while others may be relocated to other destinations for permanent residence.

• 11 UNHCR, Global Trends. Forced Displacement in 2015, 20 June 2016, p. 2.

• 12 16.1 million refugees outside their home countries, 5.2 million Palestinian refugees inside and outside Palestinian territories, 3.2 million asylum seekers outside their home countries whose applications had not yet been decided by the end of 2015, 40.8 million internally displaced persons inside their home countries.

• 13 Turkey, Pakistan and Lebanon host more than 5 million refugees.

• 14 The Eastern Mediterranean route encompasses detections at the Greek sea borders, the Greek and Bulgarian land borders with Turkey and the Cypriot sea borders. The Central Mediterranean route encompasses detections at the Italian and Maltese sea borders. Only in 2015, illegal crossings to Greece added to almost 0.9 million.

• 15 All calculations are based on Frontex data, see Annual Risk Analysis 2016, 5 April 2016, p. 17 and for 2016 see Frontex Migratory Routes Map.

• 16 More areas of conflict will be added in due course, which will be drawn from the overall App statistics and the actual mediation cases and the disputes reported in the system.

• 17 There will be a statistical analysis of the cases referred to mediation, the fields of law they concern and the rates of success and see if legal aid should be added as a feature of the App.

• 18 We plan to work alongside the Ministries of Immigration and the Frontex to ensure that data of the refugees is provided for information purposes and for making the App known to all of them.

• 19 We have already made communication with The UNHCR, the Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship of the European Commission and foreign governments inviting them to support the project in a way which will ensure expansion and sustainability.

• 20 The expansion plan provides a central administration located in Greece, because of the vicinity with areas of turmoil in the Mediterranean Sea and the establishment of regional offices which will provide services locally, starting from the countries which are points of entry for refugees (Spain, Italy, Turkey, Bulgaria) and then selectively expand to places where a high volume of refugee is monitored by governments and the UNHCR. Authorities, mediation schemes and NGOs will be utilized for setting up and operating the new structures.

• 21 Serious incidents have been monitored in refugee camps, even violence between refugees.

• 22 The idea is to create a list of the most common offences and the penalties they carry in the country the refugee is temporarily settled. This way the refugees will be able to see the consequences of their possible actions, be deterred from being engaged is such conduct, while at the same time the system will offer them the option of mediation to resolve their dispute.

• 23 As most or all of the dispute resolution process will be made through smartphones, for those who do not have one or have issues of connectivity we will invite large telecommunication companies and internet providers to consider placing the project under their corporate social responsibility programs and contribute in their field of operations and expertise. Refugees will be electronically informed in entry points and in camps for the ODR4Refugees App and the role it can play in their new life.

• 24 The App will use geolocation tools, with the consent of the user and for as long as the refugee retains the refugee status.

• 25 As for many of the refugees is very likely that they will not be relocated and will settle permanently in the country, the App will also have the ability to add a technical component which will include personal skills, qualifications and working experience so that we can be informed of the education and social level of the refugee and at the same time be able to link this information to the local labour market. This will serve as a very good incentive for refugees to use the App.

• 26 The App will use the refugee’s first name in all communications as well as phrases showing empathy and willingness to help him and protect him. Trust in the system is a top priority.

• 27 The App focusses for the moment at the major Syrian refugee crisis and the four European countries mostly affected by it. We may need to add later on Pashto or Dari (Afghanistan) and Urdu (Pakistan) as well as other languages of refugee ethnicities from all over the world. Users will be asked to choose the main language which may be their mother tongue as well as to confirm that they can conduct the discussions in English in case there are no available mediators who speak their language.

• 28 If by examining the case statistics find that there is a frequent category of disputes missing, we will accordingly modify the basic dispute menu to include it.

• 29 The App will be supported by an extended network of online mediators who will be trained and be available to handle such disputes. System will appoint the most appropriate mediator matching several criteria such as nationality, languages spoken, vicinity to the location of the refugees, topic of the dispute, gender of the parties, etc. Two options, ‘ACCEPT’ and ‘REFUSE’, will be available for the user, each explaining what it stands for. In case of acceptance, the process will move on to the next stages. In case of refusal, the cases will be closed and filed. As most online mediators will be professionals with no relation to the refugee communities, we have opted for a simple selection process with the right to ask for the appointment of a new mediator (‘APPOINT NEW MEDIATOR’) reserved only for cases where mediators have the same origin as the parties and issues of neutrality may arise.

• 30 In case a settlement has been reached, the App will thank parties for their efforts, remind them that they have saved money, time, litigation and trouble and ask them to share their experience with other refugees. In case no settlement has been reached, the app will inform parties that their efforts did not result in a settlement, that they must now both examine the options ahead which could involve money, time and litigation and that if they decide to take one more step further for resolving their case they can always call their mediator.

• 31 The resolution process will be conducted through VIDEO MEDIATION (mediator sends both parties an invitation LINK to online mediation), AUDIO MEDIATION (which involves phone conferences, private discussions over phone, Skype calls, etc.) and TEXT BASED MEDIATION (which involves email, Viber, SMS, WhatsApp, Messenger, Facebook).

• 32 Professor Ethan Katsh is widely recognized as one of the founders of the field of online dispute resolution (ODR). The frequently mentioned metaphor of technology as a ‘Fourth Party’ was first proposed in Katsh and Rifkin’s Online Dispute Resolution (2001). <http://odr.info/ethan-katsh/>.

• 33 Downloads, number of incoming cases, type of conflict, resolution time needed, reason for not reaching a settlement, outcome of the case, nationality of parties, age, gender, refugee camp, language used, technology used, etc.

• 34 The selection process is organized and coordinated by the Greek Mediation Institute, which has an extended experience in mediation training and has participated in many global projects.

• 35 The ODR4Refugees project will utilize members of the refugee communities who have the ability and the profile to act as mediators, as we believe that their cultural and ethnic background could benefit the resolution process.

• 36 Ideally, we would like such initiative to be under the auspices of the UNHCR and the European Commission.

• 37 At the beginning, most of the mediators will come from the three countries which are entry points for refugees (Greece, Italy and Turkey) but will also include some high-esteemed mediators from other countries around the world. Gradually, as the use of the App expands to other territories faced with a refugee crisis, more mediators will join the list. At the same time, regional offices will be established in those places to administrate more efficiently the flow of cases.

• 38 A private ADR body licensed by the Ministry of Economy and Development, notified to the European Commission and registered to the EU ODR platform. It has an Advisory Board consisting of prominent members of the global ADR-ODR community, academics, negotiations and mediation professionals as well as lead experts in ODR.

• 39 Private contributions and sponsorships will be directed to developing and maintaining the App, establishing the required facilities (administration, central and regional offices, experts and personnel, etc.), funding the digital campaign and distribution of material, localization, setting up a global network of mediators as well as launching a program to train refugees in order to mediate disputes in their own communities. For more information, please visit <www.odreurope.com/odr4refugees> or email us at odr4refugees@odreurope.com.