IDENTITY CRISIS

摘要

THE SPRAWLING MAE LA REFUGEE camp deep in the jungles of northwestern Thailand seems an unlikely place to find pioneers of a new digital identity technology. The first time Larry Dohrs visited the camp, the veteran refugee advocate, with his signature white mustache and oversized glasses, was struck by its primitive conditions and "Dickensian" decrepitude. Located 5 miles west of the Myanmar border, in the shadows of the majestic Dawna mountains, the camp was encircled by barbed wire. Ramshackle, two-story bamboo and thatch structures leaned precariously over the muddy, twisting alleyways, teaming with people- predominantly ethnic Karens who had fled violent persecution by their government.