Many people who are forced to leave their homes end up in a camp.  This is a place where refugees might stop because they feel that they are away from the centre of danger. 

They might set down in the area themselves and make it into a camp or it might be a camp that is assisted by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as UNICEF.

Refugee camps often lack water, electricity, sanitation and health care.  They are usually overcrowded and unhygienic.  Children are especially at risk of malnutrition in refugee camps, and disease can spread very quickly.

Some refugees/IDPs who live in camps are able to return home, others leave to seek asylum in another country.  During the time when neither is possible, people have no choice but to make cramped camps into their home.  In a few cases, for people who have experienced severe hunger and fighting, the aid and protection they receive in camps can actually be better than their standard of living before.

Although refugee camps are temporary shelters, sometimes people can end up living in one for well over a decade.  In some cases, children spend their entire childhood in camps.

Elderly Refugees

Sometimes elderly refugees cannot make the long distances to safety as they are too weak.  They might stay in their homes and risk being attacked by enemies who want them to evacuate, or they might stay despite natural disasters because they cannot survive the long journey to a refugee/ IDP camp. 

Refugee and IDP Children

More than half the world's refugees are children. Refugee and internally displaced children face serious problems.  Not only do they lose their homes and everything familiar to them, but sometimes they become separated from their parents and family, too.  This puts them in a very unsafe situation in which they can be easily taken advantage of.

What risks do refugee or IDP Children face?

Here is a brief snapshot of risks refugee or IDP children are more vulnerable to:

• Forced to become a child soldier - This can mean being a part of an armed group but not only as a soldier, those persons under 18 who are cooks, porters, messengers, domestic helpers and those forced into marriage with an adult soldier were often referred to as child soldiers but now the more accepted term is children involved with armed forces.
• Sometimes they are abducted; sometimes children join the armed forces to avenge the death of a loved one or for basic requirements like food. 
• Child labour - Children often end up working mostly to get the basics in life, such as food, or to help their families. Their work can include begging, working in other people's homes (where they are at an increased risk of being abused), or in dangerous environments for little or no money if they were forced into it by someone who abducted them. 
• Children often face the risk of getting killed during fighting as they try to cross a border to safety. 
• Children might be picked up by child traffickers and sold as slaves, joining the 5.7million child slaves worldwide.
• Children can be unwelcome when they arrive in a new country looking for protection.  This can be because a country has too many refugees wanting to enter, limited resources to cope with such high numbers, or cultural and religious differences which make the host country less willing to accommodate such refugees. 
• Refugee children's education is greatly affected.  During the time they are displaced, they may not have the opportunity to go to school.  If they are displaced for a long time, they may need to turn to child labour to earn enough money to feed themselves, and therefore reduce the chance for a better future. 
• The overcrowded and unhygienic condition of camps affects children more than adults; it leaves children at risk of disease so they are more likely to get sick. 
• Child refugees are at risk of malnutrition.  It may be that their parents cannot grow food on their own land and may not have money to buy food, or a child may have been separated from his or her family. This can mean that they have to find food for themselves or rely on the kindness of strangers.  In all these situations they are unlikely to receive enough food to be healthy.
• The emotional risks that face a child are great, like grief, loneliness and hurt.  A refugee child can become scarred for life as he or she deals with the loss of their home, and in the worst cases the loss of their parents and family leaving them to fend for themselves in an unsafe environment.