The United Nations helped launch a smartphone app Tuesday that allows users to "walk a mile in a refugee's shoes" by simulating the daily struggles of a fictional Rohingya Muslim who was forced to flee her home. Richard Towles, the UNHCR representative in Malaysia, said he hopes the free app will help people empathize with refugees. "The refugee story is often a deeply personal one and difficult for people to understand," Towles said. "We hope that this application will allow a viewer to walk a mile in a refugee's shoes in order to understand what they go through every day in order to find safety." There are more than 150,000 asylum seekers and refugees in Malaysia, one of the highest numbers in Asia, according to the UNHCR.

Source: ABC News April 25, 2017 06:32 UTC