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This is part of our Road Trip 2016 summer series "Life, Disrupted," about how technology is helping with the global refugee crisis -- if at all.The main street in Mytilene, on the Greek island of Lesvos, wraps around the green-tinted Aegean like a horseshoe. Brightly painted buildings line the road while wooden sailboats bob near the pier. It's beautiful.It's also where I bump into Waleed, a young boy I'd met earlier that day at the gate of the Kara Tepe refugee camp just outside town.He was fishing with two other migrants.I ask where his mom is. He points back toward the camp. "Kara Tepe," he tells me.And his father?"Dad. Syria. Psh, Psh," he says, pointing a finger to his head while imitating the sound of gunfire.I say, "I'm sorry," but he shrugs it off. That's life in Syria, where he came from. It was another reminder of the pain refugees have faced both at home and in Greece, where they fled to safety. The pain often sits just under the surface, bubbling up after they talk about th,greece,greece map,greece flag,greece news,greece currency,greece islands,greece ridge mall,greece vacations,greece beaches,greece economy ...ادامه مطلب

Most people think of Greece as a great place to escape from the stress of everyday life. But not to the more than 57,000 people now trapped there. In 2015, thousands of refugees and migrants fled war and chaos in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq and headed to Europe seeking shelter. A year later, many are living in squalid camps and abandoned buildings in Greece, waiting for asylum or a chance at legal residence in the European Union. During a 10-day trip in June, we talked to officials, migrants and activists in Athens, Lesvos -- the Greek island where most refugees first set foot in Europe last year -- and Thessaloniki, near the closed border of Macedonia, shutting migrants' way out. Our mission: to see if the technology that many of us use every day -- phones, the inteet, messaging apps, social networks -- is helping during this crisis. Or not. We met people from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Morocco and Somalia, all on a jouey they hoped would take them to safer and better lives. Everyone (except the children) has a phone. All rely on the inteet to lea what's new and important. Facebook is a tool for escape and escapism. Power strips are the new watercoolers. Here are a few stories of their stories.Google it Five men sit around a battered, wooden patio table just outside the gate at Kara Tepe, an official refugee camp on Lesvos. All have their phones plugged into two power strips on top of the table. Smoke wafts from their cigarettes. Beko Al-Falahi, a 28-year-old from Iraq, tells us he used to work as a US Army translator. He's wearing a camo hat, flip-flops and a shirt that reads, "Grace isn't a little prayer you say before receiving a meal. It's a way of life."In April, Pope Francis visited migrant detention centers on the Greek island of Lesvos. Beko Al-Falahi shows a photo of the Pope holding his son Tayim. Richard Nieva He talks about his wife and son, Tayim, just 35 day, ...ادامه مطلب