Myanmar is in the midst of a turbulent and uncertain situation— and we are extremely concerned for the lives and safety of the most vulnerable, including those who have been affected by conflict.

“The patients who come here are totally dependent on the services this hospital gives them,” Mohamed Yuusuf, doctor at IRC-run South Galkacyo Hospital in Somalia explains.

Nyarugusu Refugee Camp in Northwestern Tanzania was established in 1996, when civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) forced people to flee their homes, often with little more than the clothes on their backs, and cross Lake Tanganyika into Tanzania. Today, more than 65,000 Congolese and Burundian refugees live in Nyarugusu, over half of whom are children.

Today’s refugee crisis poses serious challenges to the international order. Conflict and crisis have pushed some 21 million people to seek refuge outside their home countries, including 5 million who have fled Syria since the civil war began in 2011. Approximately 76 percent of refugees live outside of camp settings, making it even more difficult to locate and reach them with essential services. Furthermore, protracted displacement has become the “new normal.” Refugees now spend an average of 10 years away from their homes, and for refugees displaced more than five years, the average is 21 years.