Displaced People in East Africa

Seven of the world’s ten largest refugee camps are in East Africa. In 2018, these seven camps combined held more than one million refugees. The largest camps are within and outside of Kenyan borders: Bidi Bidi in Uganda, Dadaab and Kakuma in Kenya, Nyarugusu and Katumba in Tanzania, Yida in South Sudan, and Pugnido in Ethiopia.

Aerial photos of the camps show thousands of tents neatly aligned in grids, but they do not show the daily struggles for survival. People in the camps struggle with unemployment, lack of schooling, overcrowded shelters, inadequate paperwork, limited medical care, limited pure water, poor sanitation, ethnic tensions, relational conflicts and poor policing. No one wants to remain in the camps. Everyone talks and dreams about returning home or migrating abroad. And there are always new refugees entering the camps.

Overall, Africa has about half of the world’s internally displaced peoples – more than 16 million. Tribal war is the primary reason for flight in South Sudan, the Congo, and formerly in Rwanda-Burundi. Islamist violence creates displaced people in Somalia and Kenya.

When the Baboa family heard the dreaded rumour of a pending tribal attack, they warned everyone in the village and fled that night. They heard later that some had tragically fled towards the oncoming aggressors. Since they could not afford a truck or bush taxi, they walked for four days toward an unpatrolled section of the Congo-Uganda border. They stayed close together to protect themselves from robbery and rape. In various villages they bartered for food for their starving children.

By the time they reached the Arua refugee camp, they had lost phone communication with their other family members. They met people who were deeply traumatised, anxious, vengeful, or fearful of retribution. They saw dark desperation in people’s eyes, fatalistic resignation – and they witnessed much violence. They knew the locals did not want them there since they now occupied their farm lands, deforested their region, caused inflated food prices, and were always suspected of criminal behaviour. They felt unwanted, lost, and hopeless.

In addition to the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and secular aid services, Samaritan’s Purse, World Vision, Catholic Relief Services, and other global mission agencies work around the clock to meet the needs of displaced East Africans. They provide care for orphans and widows (including specialized trauma care), schooling, water projects, tents, blankets, mosquito nets, medicine, and food.

Through interpreters, Christians coordinate prayer meetings and distribute Bibles, hymnals, and prayer books in conjunction with local churches. They are providng hope to some of the most afflicted people on earth.

Where refugee camps are predominantly Muslim, the ministry approaches are far more discreet, since hostility to Christianity remains strong in refugee camps. Those who follow Jesus face extreme opposition within the camps and require discreet relocation to safer communities.