Refugees solve German bureaucracy with new app

Not only refugees and immigrants struggle Germany's infamous bureaucracy. Even many Germans who are familiar with the country's language and laws have a hard time understanding "officialese."

When Munzer Khattab, Ghaith Zamrik, Omar Alshafai, Yazan Salmo, Mohamad Khattab and Ahmad Alarashi first came to Germany as refugees, they were asked to sign countless documents in German. Only a few of them had been translated into their native Arabic.

Many offices lack translators for language like Arabic, Farsi and Pashtu to help refugees understand the documents they have to sign. In addition, only few workers speak English fluently. The result is that many refugees and newcomers to Germany find themselves signing important documents pertinent to their visa status - without fully knowing what they say.

Over the past year these six Syrian refugees have not only worked hard to learn German, but have also developed a new smartphone app designed to help others overcome German bureaucracy.

Bureaucrazy - practical help with papers

Called Bureaucrazy, the app is set to be launched in January 2017. It will be able to translate various German forms into Arabic and English for newcomers who are overwhelmed by the pile of German paperwork they're facing.

The app will also help users register with the German authorities, open a bank account, apply for insurance, among other practical tasks that are frequently laden with bureaucracy. The app developers are also working on a map with Berlin offices that all newcomers and refugees should know about.

"If you have some paper work to do and you don't know how, you can use this app, and we will tell you what papers you might need and where you will have to submit them or what kind of offices you need to visit," Ghaith Zamrik, 19, told DW's Jaafar Abdul Karim for the television show "Shabab Talk."

"Bureaucrazy" is not only a creative name for the new app, but also a sad depiction of reality is Germany's often illogical and intransparent world of official paperwork. Munzer Khattab, whose first language is Arabic, came up with the name as he mispronounced the word "bureaucracy" when he first had to deal with it in Germany.

Digitalizing bureaucracy

None of the app developers had any previous knowledge in IT or software development before designing Bureaucrazy. Most of their skills were obtained during a workshop at Berlin's ReDi School of Digital Integration, a start-up company that offers programming courses for refugees.

ReDi also holds developer contests where refugees can submit their own ideas and obtain support. Ghaith and his friends participated and their idea to facilitate German bureaucracy convinced the jury. They had already developed the app's prototype as part of the training program at ReDi.

Once completed, the app is meant to be used not only in Berlin, but all over Germany and ultimately other European countries.

Support for Bureaucrazy

It quickly became apparent that Bureaucrazy isn't just useful for newcomers to Germany, but for many Germans as well. Since many official documents are written in complicated jargon, developers are exploring the option of offering a "simply German" translation as well.

The app makers are currently seeking support and collaboration from government officials, IT developers and donors. For now, they are collecting donations via crowdfunding to finance full development of the app. The project's crowdfunding campaign recently started and is supported by ReDI School of Digital Integration's head Anne Kjaer.