Thesis 100dpi

102 REFUGIUM
THE FAILURE OF REFU-
GEE CAMPS
Humanitarian aid today is
delivered the same way as
it was 70 years ago, despite
the global social and technological
changes.
“Their homes are constructed
with destruction
in mind.”
Marie Thomson, anthropologist
Political instability, climate change and other factors virtually guarantee
that in the near future we will see a startling increase in the
number of refugees and economic migrants worldwide. It is important
to understand the implications of the internationally adopted policy
for settling refugees into remote camps.
POLITICAL BACKGROUND
Theoretically, camps make the delivery of humanitarian aid more efficient.
By collecting displaced people in a central location, aid agencies
can reduce the costs associated with assessing refugees’ needs and
distributing relief supplies. However, third world countries often keep
displaced people offshore and out of sight, which suggests a political
agenda rather than a strictly humanitarian focus. The first modern
camps for displace people were within Europe’s borders. Shortly after
WWII British, French and German camps hosted an estimated 850 000
people. As the camps were gradually emptied the population was
resettled, mainly in Western Europe, Canada and the United States.
Yet since the 1950s, Western Europe has kept displaced people outside
its borders by funding large-scale refugee camps in the developing
countries. Eighty percent of the world’s displaced people reside for
extended periods of time in third world countries. By funding UNHCR
and other aid agencies, the world’s wealthiest countries pay to keep
them there.
PERMANENTLY TEMPORARY STATE
Despite the United Nations High Commission for Refugees’ call for
“durable solutions” for displaced people, the plan for most refugees is
for them to wait in camps until they can return home, even when there
is no foreseeable end to the wars or occupations that have displaced
them.
Refugee camps are designed for temporary stay: to meet an emergency
and then disappear. This is obvious in the architecture of
camps – thousands of people are housed in rows of simple tents
that barely offer any protection from snow, subzero temperatures, or
flooding. Despite these conditions, there is no plan for the refugees to
be resettled or returned home in a reasonable time frame. In Tanzania,
Congolese refugees in the Nyarugusu camp are forced to build
their own shelters from unbaked bricks and thatch. This allows the
camp manager, UNCHR, to tear down the structures at any moment.
“Impermanence is designed into the refugees’ most intimate spaces,”
anthropologist Marnie Thomson says. “Their homes are constructed
with destruction in mind.”
Neither host states, aid agencies nor the United Nations want camps
to be permanent. But the purgatory of camp life lasts decades, or
even generations, as the politics of refugees’ home countries remains
unstable. For example, Palestinians are entering their 68th year of
displacement. The average stay in refugee camps around the world
has reached 14 years, which UNCHR calls “a situation of protracted