Alexander Harvey

When people imagine refugee camps, they often picture temporary tents, emergency food drops, and urgent evacuations. The word “refugee” itself conjures a sense of crisis — a moment of upheaval followed, hopefully, by a return home or a new beginning elsewhere.

But in Nyarugusu Refugee Camp, the story looks very different.

Located in western Tanzania, Nyarugusu has been operating since 1996. Today, it houses over 150,000 refugees, many of whom have been there for ten, fifteen, even twenty-five years.  What was designed to be temporary has become, for many, a way of life.

This kind of long-term displacement, where generations are born and raised in refugee camps, presents serious challenges not only for those living there, but for the global policies meant to protect them.

Three Durable Solutions — One Stalled Reality

The international refugee protection system typically offers three “durable solutions”:

        1. Voluntary repatriation — returning home when it’s safe
        2. Resettlement to a third country
        3. Local integration into the host country

But for most refugees in Nyarugusu, none of these options are accessible:

        • Conflict and instability in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi continue to make safe return impossible.
        • Resettlement slots in Western countries are limited and shrinking.
        • Tanzanian law does not allow full integration, and refugees are restricted from legally working or leaving the camp.

The result?  A permanent state of limbo — with no way forward and no way back.

Policy vs. Reality

Global refugee frameworks were not designed for displacement that lasts decades.  Yet camps like Nyarugusu are now more common than exceptional.

        • According to the UNHCR, the average time a refugee remains displaced is over 20 years.
        • More than 80% of refugees worldwide live in developing countries, often with strained infrastructure and limited resources.

Policy assumes transition.  Reality is prolonged waiting.  And waiting.  And waiting.

This mismatch creates enormous pressure on host nations, aid agencies, and most of all on the refugees themselves, who are left with few legal rights and fewer opportunities.

The Human Cost of Waiting

Long-term encampment isn’t neutral. It shapes every aspect of life:

        • Children grow up without citizenship or stable education.
        • Youth enter adulthood with no legal ability to work.
        • Growing families depend on humanitarian aid that is shrinking each year.
        • Talents go undeveloped.  Skills atrophy.  Hope dims.

This is not a holding pattern.  It’s a distortion of potential.

Many refugees in Nyarugusu have vocations like teaching or pastoring.  But under current policy structures, they cannot use their gifts to serve their community or support their families in meaningful, legal ways.

When Camps Become Generational

One of the most striking realities of Nyarugusu is that many young people have never known another life.  They were born in the camp.  They have never visited their home country.  They’ve never lived outside the fences.

And yet, they are still classified as “temporary” residents and their futures are constrained by a system not designed to support permanency.

This raises hard questions for global refugee policy:

        • What does it mean to protect someone long-term?
        • How can legal frameworks evolve to reflect today’s displacement realities?
        • What responsibilities do host nations and international actors share when resettlement and repatriation aren’t realistic?
        • How can we help as global leaders debate the best course of action?

These aren’t just policy issues. They are spiritual ones too — questions of compassion, justice, and stewardship.

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.” — Proverbs 31:8

What Needs to Change

If the international community is to respond meaningfully to long-term displacement, several shifts must take place:

        • Reframing refugee policy to address protracted displacement.  This is not just a humanitarian emergency, it is a long-term development concern
        • Supporting education, vocational training, and infrastructure in camps because life cannot wait for policy to change
        • Listening to refugees as leaders, not just recipients

Long-term camps need long-term vision.  This needs to come from not just from governments, but from organizations, churches, and everyday people who care.

Hope in the Middle of the Wait

Despite the limitations of policy, there is still room for creativity, compassion, and action.  Around the world and in places like Nyarugusu, grassroots efforts are reimagining what support looks like.

They’re not waiting for the system to change.  They’re building new possibilities from within.

In doing so, they remind us of a deeper truth: that even in places where the world has forgotten, God has not.  And that His call to serve the stranger, care for the vulnerable, and restore what is broken is as urgent now as ever.

At Equipping Hope International, this is the space we serve.  We work not by offering quick fixes or mass solutions, but by equipping individuals inside the camp with the tools to rebuild from English language classes to tailoring apprenticeships to farming initiatives.  Our commitment is long-term, local, and grounded in the belief that hope can grow even in the hardest places.

Because the people in Nyarugusu are not defined by their displacement.  They are defined by their God-given capacity to learn, lead, and love.

With perseverance,

The Equipping Hope Team