Ongoing and newly developed conflicts have driven displacement across the globe. According to the UNHCR, 89.3 million people have been forcibly displaced worldwide. Sixty-nine percent of refugees and displaced people originated from just five countries (Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, South Sudan, and Myanmar). Children, who account for 30 percent of the world’s population, account for 41 percent of all forcibly displaced people.

After the military coup in 2021, the number of internally displaced people in Myanmar has dramatically increased. CBM is working with our partners to provide housing, food, medical care and personal items to those in need.

Kong Zao Yaw and his family live in a refugee camp in Kachin state. Before the civil war broke out, Kong farmed and his daughter worked as a chef. Now they have lost their income and rely on aid from the camp. Our partner, Pastor Lai, visits the camp regularly to bring aid and share the gospel. Kong Yaw shared the following with Pastor Lai during a visit: “I am so touched that there are still people who care for us amid the pandemic and the ongoing conflict. We have lost our home, our land and our jobs. We have nothing, but you still see us and care for us. It is very encouraging.”

The Kakuma Refugee Camp is located in northwest Kenya bordering South Sudan. The camp is home to almost 200,000 refugees from South Sudan, as well as Burundi, Somalia, Ethiopia, and Congo. Living in an overcrowded refugee camp with few resources can lead people to fighting and conflict and, over the past several years, clashes have flared among the South Sudanese Refugees from different ethnic groups. This fighting has often led to the deaths of refugees inside the camp. Through our church partner FEBAC, CBM trains participants to be active peacebuilders in their community and encourages them to promote peaceful coexistence and reconciliation. The workshop also deals with healing trauma from past events.

Abraham Garang, a workshop participant shared the following: “The peace training workshop equipped me with peacebuilding and promotion skills. I am already an active peace builder and promoter and I will continue using the skills I acquired for the purpose of bringing ethnic communities together to live in harmony.”

Ukraine Update

In Romania, our partner All4Aid recently renovated the loft space in one of their refugee homes. The team converted the space into an apartment so that more Ukrainian guests can stay.

In July, the loft apartment was completed. A special part of the remodelling process was that All4Aid received feedback from their guests throughout the process. For example, the double beds were purchased and placed at the request of many moms whose children were too frightened to sleep alone.