The Refugee Camp Framework: Methodology and Modeling Through Systems View

Ege Naz Özer, Middle East Technical University

Abstract

A significant portion of the 20 million refugees of the world lives in refugee camps. There was no holistic and systematic approach on the establishment, management and organization of these refugee camps in the operations research and logistics literature. This thesis first explains the today of the refugee crisis and then how it will evolve with the climate change, in other words, the dimensions of the global refugee crisis that we will need to work on in the future. By setting the boundaries of a refugee camp, with the essential needs as extensions of its location and by examining the economic, ecologic and social sustainability context; the work forms a system model of a refugee camp. The methodological approach on a refugee camp problem is discussed through the problem size, model complexity and representation of human suffering in a mathematical model for a refugee camp. Finally, supported with the system thinking and methodological approach, the stochastic mathematical models for refugee camp location and supply problems are built.

Short Bio

Ege Naz Özer has received her B.S. and M.S. degrees in the Industrial Engineering Department of Middle East Technical University. She currently holds a research assistant position in METU IE department and continues her studies in the Doctorate Program. Her main research interests are Humanitarian Aid Operations and Sustainability; she combines her knowledge in Sociology and Economics with her Operations Research approach in tackling the problems.

Venue

Friday, March 18, 2022, 4.00 pm - Zoom Meeting