ABSTRACT
More and more children and families are uprooted every year – fleeing conflict or persecution, escaping from drought, driven by the need for work, pushed out by eviction. People's neighbourhoods were destroyed to make room for new development, and in most cases this did not result in death or homelessness. Children are far more often included in the internal migration to towns and cities than in the international flows. Post-disaster and refugee camps are often grim places where the frequent shortages of clean water, food and medical care, along with exposure to infectious disease, can result in illness and acute malnutrition, especially for young children. Sexual violence is frequently reported, and there have been numerous accounts of children and women enduring repeated abuse. Depression and anxiety can be widespread, and high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as well as more common mental disorders have been identified among camp populations.
