How Does One Count the Refugees?

I noted recently that the number of displaced persons is on the rise globally, mainly in developing countries. But that raises a question about how do we know this number? Particularly in parts of Africa, where informal refugee camps have arisen, the task has been taken up by analyzing satellite imagery. The Office of the Geographer at the US Department of State has been instrumental in this kind of work, and examples are provided by a blog hosted by Joshua Campbell. This is a visual, so you need to check it out.


Full disclosure: One of my former PhD students and co-author, Dr. Debbie Fugate, works for the Office of the Geographer at the State Department, and I am especially fascinated by this use of imagery in demographic analysis.