{"id":501,"date":"2026-10-08T22:38:47","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T14:38:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kitchenblisss.com\/blog\/?p=501"},"modified":"2026-10-08T22:38:47","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T14:38:47","slug":"how-do-refugee-camps-deal-with-overcrowding-4abd-717343","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.kitchenblisss.com\/blog\/2026\/10\/08\/how-do-refugee-camps-deal-with-overcrowding-4abd-717343\/","title":{"rendered":"How do refugee camps deal with overcrowding?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first time I saw a refugee camp stretch beyond the horizon like a sprawling, makeshift city, I was standing in Dadaab, Kenya, back in 2018. I was there to deliver a batch of emergency shelter units, and what hit me hardest wasn\u2019t the dust or the heat, but how every square inch of the camp was being used\u2014families cooking over open fires just a foot away from neighboring tents, latrines overflowing because there were too few to go around, kids playing in a space that was supposed to be for waste disposal. At the time, I was just a guy working for a small supplier that specialized in portable, durable shelter for humanitarian groups. But that day, I realized overcrowding wasn\u2019t just a \u201cproblem\u201d in the refugee camps I visited; it was a crisis that made every other intervention harder, riskier, more likely to fail. Over the past five years, I\u2019ve worked in half a dozen camps across Jordan, Uganda, and Somalia, and I\u2019ve learned that dealing with overcrowding isn\u2019t just about building more space\u2014it\u2019s about a mix of planning, adaptation, and working with the communities that call these camps home. Let me walk you through what I\u2019ve seen, what\u2019s worked, and what still needs to change. Refugee Camp<\/a><\/p>\n

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First, it\u2019s important to understand why camps get overcrowded. Most people think it\u2019s just more people showing up than expected, and while that\u2019s part of it, there\u2019s a lot more to the story. When a conflict breaks out\u2014say, the civil unrest in northern Uganda or the drought in Somalia\u2014refugees don\u2019t come in neat, predictable waves. A border might open overnight, 10,000 people cross in 48 hours, and the camp that was designed for 50,000 suddenly has 80,000 residents. But overcrowding also happens slowly, from people staying longer than planned. A camp might be set up for temporary shelter, but if the conflict drags on for years\u2014sometimes a decade or more\u2014families start having kids, grandparents move in, and what was supposed to be a temporary space becomes a permanent one, with no one adjusting the size. And then there\u2019s the issue of \u201cvertical overcrowding\u201d: in some camps, families who can\u2019t afford new tents or don\u2019t have access to more plots will divide a single tent into two or three sleeping areas, or even build small additions out of scrap material, because they have no other choice.<\/p>\n

Back in 2019, I was in Zaatari, the big camp in Jordan that\u2019s home to over 80,000 Syrian refugees. The UNHCR told me that at its peak in 2015, Zaatari was over twice its planned capacity, with some tents holding up to 15 people. The big push there was to expand the camp, but the most effective step early on was what they called \u201cplot rationalization.\u201d Basically, they went through every tent and every plot, and made sure each family had enough space to live with basic dignity\u201415 square meters per person for living space, plus access to a latrine, water, and a small area for cooking. That sounds simple, but it required working with camp leaders, because no one likes being told they have to move or that their plot is too big. So instead of forcing families, camp managers asked local leaders to help explain the plan, offered small incentives like extra cooking fuel for families that moved to a smaller plot, and made sure the new plots had access to all the same services as the old ones. I helped deliver the modular shelters they used for the expanded plots then\u2014they\u2019re made from fire-resistant, insulated material, so they keep families cool in the Jordanian desert heat and warm in the winter cold. One family, a mother with four kids, told me after they moved that their old tent was so crowded, the kids could barely do homework. The new one had space for a small table, and that made a huge difference. But plot rationalization only works if you have the right supplies on hand, and that\u2019s where a lot of suppliers fall short. Many groups wait until overcrowding is a crisis to order more shelters, which means long lead times, delays, and more families living in unsafe, overcrowded spaces.<\/p>\n

Another strategy I\u2019ve seen work is \u201chorizontal expansion with local adaptation.\u201d When a camp is at risk of outgrowing its current borders, instead of just building the same standard tent over and over, managers work with the local community\u2014both refugee leaders and the host country\u2014to expand into new areas, but design the new space to fit the needs of the people who will live there. For example, in the Bidibidi camp in Uganda, which hosts over 270,000 refugees from South Sudan, the UNHCR started expanding the camp in 2020, but they didn\u2019t just build random plots. They worked with refugee committees to map where different groups wanted to settle, so families from the same region could stay near each other, which helps preserve their culture and social support systems. They also designed the new plots to have extra space for kitchen gardens, which is a big deal because many refugees rely on growing their own food to supplement rations. When I delivered shelters there last year, we worked with local builders\u2014refugees themselves\u2014to assemble the units, which cut down on labor costs and gave some people extra income. The key here is that expansion isn\u2019t just about adding space; it\u2019s about making the new space work for the people who will use it. I\u2019ve seen camps where new plots are built far from water sources or clinics, which just leads to overcrowding in those services later on. So you have to plan ahead, map out where all the services are, and make sure the new expansion is connected to them.<\/p>\n

But what about overcrowding that happens inside tents or shelters, even when the camp isn\u2019t expanding? That\u2019s a problem I\u2019ve seen a lot, especially in camps where families stay for years. A lot of refugees end up bringing more items than they can fit in a standard tent\u2014mattresses, clothes, kitchenware, even small livestock in some cases. So they build extra spaces onto their tents out of scrap wood, plastic sheeting, whatever they can find. The problem is these makeshift additions are often unsafe: they catch fire easily, they\u2019re not insulated, and they can collapse in heavy rain or wind. A few years ago, I was in a camp in Somalia where a family\u2019s makeshift extension caught fire, and three kids were injured. That\u2019s when I started working on a new type of add-on shelter\u2014something that\u2019s lightweight, easy to assemble, fire-resistant, and fits onto the standard emergency shelters we provide. We tested it in that Somali camp last year, and the feedback was amazing. Families said it gave them space to store their things, to cook separate from their sleeping area, or even for a teenager to have their own space. It didn\u2019t require any special tools, and we trained local volunteers to assemble them, so it was fast. The best part is it helped reduce the number of makeshift, unsafe structures, which in turn made the camp safer overall. That\u2019s the thing about overcrowding: it\u2019s not just about how many people are in a space\u2014it\u2019s about how that space is used. If you give families extra, safe space to expand their shelters voluntarily, you can reduce overcrowding without having to completely relocate them.<\/p>\n

Of course, no solution is perfect, and there are big challenges when it comes to dealing with overcrowding. One of the biggest is funding. Humanitarian groups are always working on tight budgets, and shelter is often one of the first things to get cut when money gets tight. I\u2019ve seen camps put off expanding because they don\u2019t have the money for more shelters, or they have to use cheaper, lower-quality units that don\u2019t last, so families end up replacing them over and over, which actually costs more in the long run. Another challenge is political red tape. A lot of host countries are wary of expanding refugee camps, worried about security or strain on their own resources. So camp managers have to work extra hard to build trust with host governments, show that the camp is well-run, and that the refugees are contributing to the local economy\u2014like by working in local farms, or running small businesses. In Jordan, for example, Zaatari camp has a special economic zone where refugees can start businesses, and that\u2019s helped ease tensions with the host country, making it easier to expand the camp when needed.<\/p>\n

Another big issue is long-term planning. A lot of camps are designed for 3-5 years, but now the average length of stay for a refugee is 17 years, according to UNHCR data. That means camps aren\u2019t temporary anymore\u2014they\u2019re becoming permanent communities. So dealing with overcrowding can\u2019t just be about putting up more tents; it has to be about building sustainable, long-term housing. In Uganda, for example, the government has started letting refugees own small plots of land in the camp, instead of just renting them from the government. That\u2019s changed everything\u2014families are more likely to invest in better shelter, they build permanent structures, and the camp doesn\u2019t get as overcrowded because people take better care of their space. I worked on a project there last year that combined modular shelters with building materials for permanent homes, so families can start with an emergency unit and expand it over time as they get more stable. It\u2019s not a quick fix, but it\u2019s something that addresses overcrowding at the root, because people aren\u2019t just staying temporary\u2014they\u2019re building a life there.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve also learned that community leadership is non-negotiable. You can\u2019t come into a camp from outside, bring new shelters or a new plan, and expect it to work if the people who live there don\u2019t buy into it. Back in 2021, I was in a camp in northern Uganda where we were supposed to deliver 500 new shelters to address overcrowding. The first plan was to assign plots based on need, but when we talked to refugee leaders, they said that wouldn\u2019t work\u2014groups from different regions had different customs for living space, and assigning plots randomly would cause tension. So we changed the plan: we worked with the refugee committees to organize the delivery and assignment of plots, they helped explain the process to their communities, and even some of the leaders helped assemble the shelters. The process took a little longer, but when we finished, there was almost no conflict, and families reported feeling more satisfied with their new space. That taught me that the best solutions aren\u2019t the ones we come up with as suppliers or aid workers\u2014they\u2019re the ones the community comes up with, with our support.<\/p>\n

Now, after five years in this work, I look at overcrowding in refugee camps differently than I did back in Dadaab. It\u2019s not just a problem to solve\u2014it\u2019s a sign that people are surviving, that they\u2019re building lives when everything else is torn apart. But it\u2019s also a problem that can lead to so many other issues: poor health from overcrowded latrines and lack of space to cook, higher rates of gender-based violence because families have no private space, kids not being able to study because there\u2019s no room for a desk. So dealing with it isn\u2019t just about shelter\u2014it\u2019s about protecting the dignity of every person in the camp.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the thing: overcrowding is only going to get worse. The UN says that by 2050, 200 million people could be displaced by conflict and climate change, so camps will have to grow, adapt, and find better ways to handle more people. That means suppliers like me can\u2019t just deliver standard emergency shelters anymore. We have to be flexible, work with communities, think long-term, and be ready to adapt to whatever a camp needs, not just what we think they need.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re an aid organization, a camp manager, or someone working in humanitarian response who\u2019s dealing with overcrowding, I know how hard it is. You\u2019re balancing limited funds, tight timelines, and the needs of thousands of people. I\u2019ve been there, working 12-hour days in 110-degree heat, worrying if the shelters will get there in time, if the families will be happy, if the work is making a difference. But it does make a difference. A small, well-placed shelter can give a family a place to sleep without feeling crowded, a kid a space to study, a mother a place to cook away from the dust. That\u2019s why I do this work.<\/p>\n

Military Camping Device<\/a> If you\u2019re looking for a partner to help address overcrowding in your camp\u2014whether that\u2019s expanding with safe, durable shelters, adding space for temporary housing, or designing solutions for long-term community growth\u2014let\u2019s connect. We\u2019ve worked across multiple regions, adapted our products to fit local needs, and prioritized community input in every project we do. We understand that overcrowding isn\u2019t just a logistical problem\u2014it\u2019s a human one, and the solutions have to reflect that.<\/p>\n

References<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). "Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2023." UNHCR, 2024.<\/li>\n
  2. UNHCR, "Camp Expansion and Overcrowding: Lessons from Dadaab and Zaatari." UNHCR Operational Guidance Series, 2020.<\/li>\n
  3. Internal Project Reports, Shelter Solutions Humanitarian, 2018\u20132024.<\/li>\n
  4. "Bidibidi Camp: Sustainable Integration of Refugee Communities in Uganda." International Organization for Migration (IOM), 2022.<\/li>\n
  5. "Shelter Adaptations for Long-Term Refugee Settings." Research Institute for Development and Humanitarian Assistance, 2021.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \n

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