Télécoms Sans Frontières Evacuated from Iraq as Civil War Develops

TSF at the Khabat, Iraq checkpoint. Photo: TSF

[Via Satellite 08-12-2014] Inmarsat-supported aid agency Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) has been required to leave an Iraqi camp where volunteers were providing education for refugee children. Kurdish police forces evacuated the camp as Islamic State forces took control of nearby Christian towns.

TSF had established an eLearning center in the camp using Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) for connectivity and IsatPhone Pro satellite phones. The agency was supporting Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) and the increasing refugee population with Inmarsat satellite communications.

Satellite services were also used to coordinate relief efforts and transmit information in areas where terrestrial connectivity was destroyed. TSF provided assistance in Iraq from June 15, until Aug. 10.