“In 2013 alone some 1 million people have poured out of Syria to escape a civil conflict that has been raging for over two years. The total number of Syrian refugees is well over 2 million, an unprecedented number and a disturbing reality that has put the host countries under immense infrastructural strain.
Host countries at least have a protocol they can follow, however. UN Handbooks are consulted and used to inform an appropriate approach to camp planning issues. Land is negotiated for and a grid layout is set. The method, while general, is meticulous – adequate for an issue with an expiration date.
Or at least it would be if the issue were, in fact, temporary.
Camps don’t pack up their things along with the news crews. The average lifespan of a refugee camp ranges from seven to seventeen years (reports vary), and many last far longer. They are a breeding ground for virulent disease and violent crime – and as camps grow larger and older, reports of violence against women increase disproportionately…”