Ready-to-assemble package
The Ikea Refugee
Housing Units were designed in collaboration with the UN refugee agency UNHCR.
As is the case with most Ikea products, the housing units are ready-to-assemble packages with
isolated polymer foam plating, attached to a lightweight and flexible steel
frame. The ‘houses’ have solar-powered lighting and heating and can be built in a mere four hours.
It took Ikea Foundation and the UNHCR three years to develop the concept, already costing
3.4 million euro. The housing concept is still in its testing phase and
costs 5,500 euro a piece. After thorough testing in Iraq, Ethiopia and now
Lebanon, the goal is to mass produce them, so that the average cost drops below
800 euro.
More comfort and privacy
Traditional refugee tents have to be replaced every six months and are
basically just a sail on poles, while a Housing
Unit has a three year lifespan and offers quite a bit more comfort and
privacy.
This last part is what bothered the Lebanese government, according to
Roberta Russo, UNHCR’s Beirut spokesperson: “After what they went through with
the Palestinians, they want to make sure
the presence of Syrians is temporary.” More than half a million
Palestinians still reside in Lebanon, after the country decided to “temporarily”
help them when Israel was founded in 1948.
It took the UN 6 months to convince the Lebanese government to allow these
special tents to be built. Half of the two million Syrian refugees are in
Lebanon, putting a serious strain on the country’s economy.
(Translated by Gary Peeters)
