Displacement in the Shadows: How Global Crises Steal the Spotlight from Enduring Refugee Needs

Photographer: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ DW_Stories

In an age of rapid information exchange, where global attention shifts from one crisis to the next, the plight of displaced communities worldwide is often overshadowed. Current media and political attention gravitates toward newer conflicts like the devastation in Gaza, creating a cyclical trend that usually leaves long-standing humanitarian issues neglected. While crises like Gaza deserve urgent attention, the narrow focus often sidelines equally severe, ongoing crises in regions such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Sudan, Myanmar, and countries like India and Pakistan (for both refugees and IDPs). For those who remain displaced, especially women and children, this neglect means living without basic rights and access to essential resources like sanitation and healthcare. 

Des Rohingyas ayant fui le Myanmar marchaient vers un camp réfugiés à Teknaf, au Bangladesh, le 13 septembre 2017.

Image Source: Human Rights Watch

Refugee communities like the Rohingya, forced to flee persecution and violence in Myanmar, endure relentless hardships in host countries such as India and Bangladesh. Living in temporary camps or informal settlements, these individuals and families are often denied even the most basic facilities, struggling daily with limited access to sanitation, healthcare, and education. In places like India, where I work with displaced women, arbitrary detentions based on “illegal status” add another layer of precarity to their already vulnerable lives. Simultaneously as national and global attention shifts to other conflict zones, media attention or understanding of the growing refugee crises remains inadequate. 

As the global funding gap for refugee aid widens, resources dwindle for those who need them most. Refugee programs in India, for instance, grapple with severe underfunding, making it difficult to provide adequate support to growing refugee communities. Without increased investment, scaling support systems to meet the needs of displaced individuals is an ominous challenge. The lack of sustained attention leaves refugees in limbo, struggling to navigate systems that often see them as outsiders.

Three years of the Rohingya refugee crisis | UNICEF

Image Source: UNICEF

To truly address the humanitarian needs of displaced communities, we must broaden our focus to recognize and support the forgotten, protracted survivors of displacement. Broadening horizons for opportunities, especially for children and women from refugee communities is also crucial. The immediate media spotlight on certain crises should not erase the suffering of others caught in protracted displacement. Governments, organizations, and individuals must engage in sustained, equitable support that addresses refugees’ immediate and long-term needs worldwide.

Written by Chaity Puja Sarkar

Communications and Outreach Manager,

The Azadi Project.


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