The Adverse Impacts of Refugee Camps on Host Communities: Who Pays the Price?

A blog post by Brianna Weissman, Junior Associate.

For decades, internal conflicts around the world have led to some of the world’s largest refugee crises. This paper will focus on four refugee crises: the Syrian, Myanmar, South Sudan, and Somalia refuges crises. The ongoing Syrian civil war has been ravaging the country since 2011.[1] It has displaced around 13.5 million Syrians, nearly half of which have fled the country, seeking asylum in neighboring countries such as Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt.[2]

Violence against the Rohingya population in Myanmar has been prevalent for decades.[3] The Rohingya people are the world’s largest stateless population, and as such they are very often denied basic rights and protections.[4] In August of 2017, tensions grew in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, and as of 2021, there are nearly one million refugees and asylum seekers who have fled to neighboring countries, but predominantly Bangladesh.[5]

South Sudan is another country embroiled with violence. In 2011, after years of civil war, southern Sudan gained its independence, but the violence followed.[6] The ongoing conflict has displaced nearly 4.8 million people, mostly women and children.[7] Many South Sudanese refugees have fled to neighboring countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[8]

[1] Kathryn Reid, Syrian refugee crisis: Facts, FAQs, and how to help, World Vision (July 13, 2021), https://www.worldvision.org/refugees-news-stories/syrian-refugee-crisis-facts#fast-facts

[2]  Id.

[3] Rohingya Refugee Crisis Explained, UNHCR (Aug. 25, 2021), https://www.unrefugees.org/news/rohingya-refugee-crisis-explained/#RohingyainBangladesh

[4] Id.

[5] Id.

[6]  South Sudan: What caused the current crisis in South Sudan?, Rescue.org, https://www.rescue.org/country/south-sudan#what-caused-the-current-crisis-in-south-sudan (last visited Apr. 8, 2022).

[7] Id.

[8]  South Sudan Refugee Crisis Explained, UNHCR (May 1, 2019), https://www.unrefugees.org/news/south-sudan-refugee-crisis-explained/.

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