Kampala — A service that uses the Internet and the SMS platform has been launched to enable refugees in Uganda locate their family members.

The service is to be piloted in Adjumani district by technology company Ericsson, telecom company MTN, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Refugees United, an NGO. The service operates through a centralised online tool where refugees send their profiles from a mobile phone.

The profiles of the refugees are stored in a database and can then be searched using SMS or mobile Internet in Uganda. In order to upload their profile, a refugee searching for their relatives will dial an MTN 0800 toll-free number which will activate a profile registration process and search profiles to trace relatives.

After establishing contact with relatives, organisations working with refugees and displaced people can then assist in helping them get in touch. Currently, Refugees United has 4,500 refugees registered on its database and is targeting to register 120,000 refugees by the end of next year.

The service was launched at Serena Hotel in Kampala on Friday. "Users can choose to remain anonymous. They can register with nicknames, description of scars, or other marks known to close family members and friends," said David Mikkelsen, the co-founder of Refugees United.

He added that the service has been used elsewhere to reconnect families in Brazil, Europe and North Africa. Also, an exercise is ongoing to register refugees in Adjumani refugee settlement, which has mostly Sudanese refugees. Uganda hosts 150,000 refugees from DR Congo, Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Eritrea and Ethiopia.