An increasing number of host states respond to protracted refugee situations by containing refugees in isolated and insecure refugee camps, typically in border regions and far from the governing regime. Many host governments now require the vast majority of refugees to live in designated camps, and place restrictions on those seeking to leave the camps for employment or education. This trend, recently termed the 'warehousing' of refugees, has significant human rights and economic implications.[10]

As highlighted by the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, levels of sexual and physical violence in refugee camps remain of great concern. UNHCR has argued that 'most refugees in such situations live in camps where idleness, despair and, in a few cases, even violence prevails. Women and children, who form the majority of the refugee community, are often the most vulnerable, falling victim to exploitation and abuse'.[11]

The prolonged encampment of refugee populations has led to the violation of a number of rights contained in the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, including freedom of movement and the right to seek wage-earning employment. Restrictions on employment and the right to move beyond the confines of the camps deprive long-staying refugees of the freedom to pursue normal lives and to become productive members of their new societies. Professional certificates and diplomas are often not recognized by host governments, and educational, health and other services are limited. Faced with these restrictions, refugees become dependent on subsistence-level assistance, or less, and lead lives of poverty, frustration and unrealized potential.

UNHCR has noted that the prolongation of refugees' dependence on external assistance 'also squanders precious resources of host countries, donors and refugees',[12] while 'limited funds and waning donor commitment lead to stop-gap solutions'.[13] It adds that spending on care and maintenance 'is a recurring expense and not an investment in the future'.[14] Refugees in camps cannot contribute to regional development and state-building.[15] In cases where refugees have been allowed to engage in the local economy, they have had 'a positive impact on the [local] economy by contributing to agricultural production, providing cheap labour and increasing local vendors' income from the sale of essential foodstuffs'.[16] When prohibited from working outside the camps, refugees cannot make such contributions.

Nature and scope of the problem

Political and security implications

Notes

10. See M. Smith, 'Warehousing Refugees: A Denial of Rights, a Waste of Humanity', World Refugee Survey 2004, Washington, US Committee for Refugees, 2004.

11. UNHCR, 'Addressing Protracted Refugee Situations', Paper prepared for the Informal Consultations on New Approaches and Partnerships for Protection and Solutions in Africa, Geneva, December 2001, p. 1.

12. UNHCR, 'Protracted Refugee Situations', p. 3.

13. Ibid.

14. Ibid.

15. See: K. Jacobsen, 'Can Refugees Benefit the State? Refugee Resources and African State-Building', Journal of Modern African Studies, vol. 40, no. 4, 2002.

16. UNHCR, 'Economic and Social Impact of Massive Refugee Populations on Host Developing Countries, as well as Other Countries', UN Doc. EC/54/SC/CRP.5, Geneva, 18 February 2004, para. 12, p. 3.