The Social Impacts of Displacement
Dr. Taha Farie Ghaleb
The issue of displacement is one of the urgent issues and problems caused by the worsening of the conflict, and the outbreak of wars between different countries and ethnic groups of the same society in the world. This issue is clearly evident in the Yemeni society in light of the ongoing confrontations between the different parties in Yemen, which has affected all Yemeni citizens, especially those close to or in the war and conflict sites. The effects of the displacement problem appear through many economic, health and psychological aspects, but its effects appear in a larger and more complex level at the social level, as many sources talk about the alarming spread of the phenomenon of prostitution in some Arab regions with its increase among minors, and the spread of the phenomenon of early marriage for girls, in addition to the increase of theft incidents, the phenomenon of beggary, child labor and street children, where the number of young beggars is constantly increasing.
The displaced people suffer from severe psychological damages due to the abnormal conditions of displacement and migration from their areas, in addition to the difficult environmental, health and social conditions they suffer from, as some of them were exposed to threats and provocation, murder and seizure of property, kidnapping, and possibly torture, which led to a feeling of insecurity as a result of the individual's expectation that his life, his family’s and his property would be vulnerable to being stormed or killed at any moment, as well as tension and anxiety about the unknown future, fear of the sources of danger, lack of confidence in others, and ease of infections of physical diseases. The displaced people are subjected to double psychological pressures, especially with the prolonged period of displacement. All these dangerous social impacts have cast their burdens on the shoulders of societies and represented a major obstacle to the development process and the desired development of the members of these communities, all with the doubling of the number of displaced people, as their number in Yemen, according to United Nations statistics, reached (3.34)[1] million displaced as a result of the war and the ongoing conflict in the Yemeni society.
[1] As per the humanitarian response plan of the United National - 2019
One of the most prominent effects of the social problems of displacement is the difficulty of living, as it posed a challenge to many of the displaced, as reports on displaced people in the Arab world indicated that the most important problems faced by the displaced were the need for shelter, followed by recruitment and access to food.
The majority of the internally displaced who were included in the report and account for 59%, live in rented homes, but their financial resources are diminishing with time, and rental prices are rising, and about 18% of them live with families or friends in overcrowded conditions and are subject to expulsion by property owners. Hundreds of thousands of people live in camps that do not meet the requirements of a normal or sedentary life.
The living conditions of the IDPs, who lack the most basic needs, such as clean water, sanitation networks and electricity, have exacerbated. The social impacts of the displacement issue have had its repercussions on several areas, foremost among which is the education process, despite the quick solutions that have been developed for them by the concerned authorities by accommodating them in the schools and universities in which they are hosted, or the establishment of an operating room for displaced students in areas of displacement, but the negative effects remain, whether on the psychological level of students or the inability to adapt to the new environment in which the displaced student lives.
The worst thing is that many students are forced to leave school and go to work after losing their families, and some children become the ones who provide for their families, and here an illiterate generation grows up, which has dangerous future implications. Foremost among them is the difficulty of their social integration, as well as this student or person may be a reason to impede progress within the society, for an uneducated generation to grow up in light of the rapid scientific development on the international level.
The problem of the displaced remains a major dilemma in the Yemeni society, and its effects cannot be contained or reduced without the intervention of the concerned authorities in solving their problems, and the creation of possible livelihood means for their stability and integration into society, in order to avoid the accumulation of social and psychological problems that displacement produces, which leads to the existence of an unbalanced or stable society without any productivity. More precisely, the displaced community represents a weak society that does not have the foundations for a decent life and is not subject to development and the desired progress.
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