During 2015, there was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and migrants into Europe.
1.3 million people came to the continent to request asylum, the most in a single year since World War II. The increase in asylum seekers has been attributed to factors such as the escalation of various wars in the Middle East and ISIL's territorial and military dominance in the region due to the Arab Winter, as well as Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt ceasing to accept Syrian asylum seekers.

Refugees and aid workers turned to Google Translate in their time of need . But, translation accuracy underperformed on topics these folks needed most. So, we put out a public call for help: “If you speak German or Arabic, you can help improve Google Translate for refugees and aid workers.” And we pointed people to a tool built by the Translate team to collect translations for key phrases most used by refugees and aid workers.