Displaced children between harsh living conditions and an unknown future

Yemen Children Platform - Mohammed Al-Wajeeh

Their suffering is read in their eyes, and their stories are written through their words. Children whose innocence was taken away by the circumstances of war, shackled by displacement camps after they fled with their families to escape the shrapnel of shells and the horrors of war, only to find themselves in camps that lack the most basic necessities of life.

In a country classified as the worst humanitarian disaster in the world, more than 1.3 million Yemeni children reside in displacement camps according to United Nations estimates. A large portion of them live in camps in Ma'rib Governorate, in difficult living conditions and ongoing suffering that has led to their deprivation of the most basic rights granted to any other child.

Concerns and Burdens
Mohammed Radwan carries a bag of tissues and wanders around the markets, hoping to find someone to buy his goods and return to his father with an amount that covers a small part of his family's daily needs.

The case of Mohammed, a 12-year-old child, is like that of dozens of children who have stories of misery and suffering that forced them to work at an early age and leave school, and help their families with crumbs to keep them alive.

Mohammed tells the "Children of Yemen" platform that he does not remember anything about the circumstances of his displacement from the city of Taiz to Marib Governorate except for the sound of the shell that fell on their house in the Sina neighborhood south of the city. At the time, Mohammed was no more than four years old.

Mohammed says: "I grew up in this camp and saw my father working hard to no avail, so I decided to help him so that we could live like the rest of the people."

Psychological effects
As a result of the daily challenges they face, children in displacement camps suffer from a noticeable increase in mental health problems, reflecting the great psychological impact generated by the war that has been raging in the country for ten years, as many of them suffer from anxiety, depression, and difficulty concentrating.

Psychological counselor Marwa Al-Awadhi talks about the psychological effects that displacement camps have on children, noting that children's absence from school, poverty, and the lack of appropriate needs for their age groups in the camps lead to them learning moral and social negatives, which affects them psychologically and creates a state of dissatisfaction in them. Then the child begins to think and compare himself with other children, which leads to chronic psychological complexes such as anxiety, fear, and feelings of inferiority.

Repeated setbacks
Younis is an 8-year-old child who has lived most of his life moving between displacement camps. Recently, he settled with his family in "Al-Amal Camp" in Ma'rib Governorate, where Younis' mother, Mrs. Faiza, says that her son suffers from lack of movement and speech, and does not tend to play with other children.

Younis' mother recalls the difficult days when her son was only two years old, when they were forced to flee their home in Sana'a after the events of December 2, 2018.

Ms. Faiza talks about the suffering that Younis experienced, as the "Dhanat al-Sawabin" camp, where they initially resided, was repeatedly bombed by the Houthis. They also witnessed a fire that destroyed their camp, from which they miraculously survived. After that, they moved to the Amal camp. These events, and many others, left deep psychological effects on Younis, which made him avoid mixing with his peers in the camp.

Fear of the future
Fatima, an eight-year-old girl, was displaced with her family from their village in the "Kilo 16" area of Al Hudaydah Governorate to the Al-Jufinah camp for displaced persons in Marib, fleeing the ongoing conflict. Fatima and her family face great difficulties in their daily lives, especially with the loss of their official documents during the sudden displacement journey.

Fatima's father recounts his suffering in trying to register his daughter in the temporary school in the camp, where he faced major challenges due to the lack of identification papers. He also finds it difficult to secure healthcare for her when she gets sick, as hospitals require official documents for treatment, especially if the treatment is funded by private parties.

Despite local initiatives to improve the conditions of the displaced in the governorate, Fatima's father fears that he will not be able to obtain official documents for his family, adding that his daughter is now afraid of not going to school, which has caused her psychological trauma that he hopes will go away if their conditions stabilize in the civil status and their papers are proven.

The role of camp management
In a statement to the "Children of Yemen" platform, the Director General of the Executive Unit for the Management of Displaced Persons Camps in the governorate, Mr. Saif Muthanna, speaks about the role of the unit in giving mental health a priority in its tasks, as it creates mechanisms to monitor and document cases of children suffering from psychological trauma, and then direct them to the relevant authorities.

According to Muthanna, the unit coordinates with several organizations to implement mental health programs, including providing appropriate places to implement psychological support sessions inside the camps.

Treatments and Executive Programs
Regarding the solutions that can alleviate the psychological pressures on children, psychological specialist Marwa Al-Awadhi believes that psychological support centers should be available in the camps to provide a safe space for children to play and practice arts, as well as emotional release to attract children's energy. Al-Awadhi stresses that play therapy is one of the most prominent means of treating children suffering from psychological pressures.

Al-Awadhi stresses in her interview with the "Children of Yemen" platform the need to provide psychological support to families, so that the father and mother's treatment is reflected in the child, because the child is shaped as a result of his parents' behaviors, and if support centers are available to families, mothers and fathers will learn skills that enable them to achieve relative stability, which is reflected in the general atmosphere for the child.

In turn, Saif Muthanna pointed out that the Executive Unit for Camp Management has implemented many programs to support children's mental health, in cooperation with various organizations, such as providing psychological support sessions through play and emotional release, as well as creating safe spaces for education and children's interaction with others. Many recreational activities were also organized, such as competitions and workshops, with the aim of enhancing social interaction among children and educating parents and supervisors on how to deal with children suffering from psychological trauma.

The importance of mental health for children
Muthanna believes that addressing mental health support programs for children is of great importance, as it works to reduce the impact of trauma, as children in displacement camps are exposed to difficult experiences such as losing parents or displacement, and psychological support alleviates these traumas, and psychological support for children enhances comprehensive development, as good mental health contributes to their healthy mental and social development, which contributes to creating a safe environment.

According to Professor Saif Muthanna, psychological support for children leads to reducing future problems, as children who receive psychological support early are less susceptible to psychological and social disorders in the future.