Campaigning for children with refugee status

'Refugee children suffer a form of double jeopardy. A denial of their human rights made them refugees in the first place; and as child refugees they are also frequently abused, as the most vulnerable category of an already vulnerable population.' Human Rights Watch

Refugee camps are part of war situations both during and after the fighting. Although refugee camps provide some respite from the terrible conditions of war, often the protection they offer is not enough or does not meet initial expectations. Health and safety conditions are often lacking. Furthermore camps are often a permanent arrangement rather than a short term one and thus many issues need be addressed such as long term living conditions and standards and the needs and wants of children.

If you would like to read an excellent synopsis of the challenges facing children with refugee status as well as the specific articles on the Convention on the Rights of the Child relating to refugee status please visit the refugees section of the website of Human Rights Watch.

‘Toys Make Children Happy’ Campaign.

According to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: "All children have the right to relax, to play and to join in a wide range of activities".
During 2001 ‘War on Want’ launched a nation-wide campaign in United Kingdom to collect toys for thousands of children living in refugee camps on the edge of the Sahara desert. Approximately 75,000 children had been living in makeshift camps in Algeria since 1975. The collection and distribution of toys to these camps was aimed at alleviating the harshness and dire conditions for children in the refugee camps and also provide an intermediary by which children could play and interact with each other. The campaign represents an excellent idea for companies and community groups to organize similar initiatives for the thousands of refugee camps which exist across the world.

‘Sponsor a Child’ through The Palestine Children's Welfare Fund
This fund aims to provide children of Palestinian refugee camps with better educational opportunities, health facilities and a bright future without violence, hatred and discrimination. The goal is to provide the children with their basic needs such as food, clothing, educational tools and health care regardless or religious affiliation. Among many other initiatives, the fund runs a ‘sponsor a child’ campaign.

Useful Websites for refugee issues:
Refugees International
United Nations High Commisioner for Refugees