This post is definitely for you if you’re looking for words to describe a refugee camp. Take a read of the following 10 words and see how you can incorporate them in your writing.
1. Makeshift
Definition
Rudimentary or transitory measure.
Examples
“The makeshift refugee camp looked like it would blow away any minute.”
“We only had a week to slap together this makeshift refugee camp, and now it’s falling apart.”
How it Adds Description
If you want to highlight the condition of the refugee camp, use makeshift to show that the housing is badly put together. Readers will likely imagine temporary walls and distressed curtains. Using makeshift will also paint the camp as depressing and unsafe.
2. Open-air
Definition
Outside, without walls or roofs.
Examples
“Finding cover in the open-air refugee camp was impossible if it were raining; I can only imagine if mortars were falling on us.”
“Our hovel was located in the corner of the open-air refugee camp.”
How it Adds Description
Not all refugee camps are created with proper housing. Some are created from tents or just open space delegated for use by refugees. Use open-air to show that these people generally live outside, with no cover or shelter to protect them. Open-air may be especially useful if you want to highlight that living without a proper home like this is preferable to whatever your characters have escaped from.
3. Sizeable
Definition
Big, vast, of considerable size.
Examples
“The journalist was in awe of the sizeable refugee camp; it was bigger than her hometown!”
“You needed a map to find your way around the sizeable refugee camp and its ramshackle houses.”
How it Adds Description
Words like vast, expansive, or enormous have negative connotations when applied to something like a refugee camp. Sizeable is a good word if you want to show the camp is large, but you don’t want the reader to think of that as a bad thing.
4. Desolate
Definition
- Cheerless, dejected, distressed.
- Deserted and derelict.
- Without safety or optimism.
Examples
“She knew she could never escape the desolate refugee camp unless she got an education.”
“Hungry children cried throughout the desolate refugee camp, but there was only so much they could be given.”
How it Adds Description
Desolate is one of those words that encompasses all the feelings associated with depression and sadness. If a place or a person feels desolate, then there is no longer any hope or faith that something good will happen soon. Desolate could also be used to describe a refugee camp that is falling apart or emptying out.
5. Overcrowded
Definition
Too many people in one space to the point of causing discomfort or unease.
Examples
“The overcrowded refugee camp had two or three large families assigned to each two-bedroom house.”
“When it was time to hand out provisions, the overcrowded refugee camp became a jungle of starving refugees storming the kitchen tents.”
How it Adds Description
If you want to show the dire situations of the refugees inside the camp, show it as overcrowded. Creating an image of people on top of each other adds a sense of anxiety as these refugees would be dealing with serious trauma without the peace or personal space to do it in.
6. Unsanitary
Definition
So dirty as to cause illness.
Examples
“You can’t drink any of the water from the taps in the unsanitary refugee camp, or you’ll get really ill.”
“The refugee camp was so unsanitary just because it was so badly built; there were leaks and mold and insects everywhere.”
How it Adds Description
Many refugee camps are unsanitary by nature of being overcrowded and generally makeshift. Describing the camp as unsanitary could also highlight how neglected the refugees are by the governments who created the camps and maybe suggest a political statement around the topic or situation.
7. Tent city
Definition
A large group of tents set up in a group, usually as a temporary set of housing for those displaced or without homes of their own.
Examples
“I didn’t expect the refugee camp to be a literal tent city. There wasn’t a proper building anywhere inside the boundaries.”
“Even though it is a tent city, I prefer the refugee camp to the warzone any day.”
How it Adds Description
Tent city is a more archaic term for refugee camps, but it creates a powerful image of a lot of homeless and displaced people sharing a public space as their own. Use tent city to show how the refugees are forced to live in the elements rather than in civilized housing, due to the cause their escaping from or the government they’ve escaped to.
8. Vulnerable
Definition
Exposed to physical or emotional attack or harm.
Examples
“The fences do nothing to stop people from sneaking into the vulnerable refugee camp at night and stealing our stuff.”
“We were so close to all the fighting that the refugee camp felt just as vulnerable as if we had stayed back home.”
How it Adds Description
Like any space that contains a lot of people, refugee camps are susceptible to both outside and inside attacks. Any character living there would likely be afraid and on edge all the time, and describing the camp as vulnerable will force the reader to recognize that atmosphere.
9. Respite
Definition
- A brief pause in action or events.
- A short rest or period of relaxation.
Examples
“The refugee camp was a welcome respite after months of walking and scavenging for food.”
“We were beyond ecstatic to finally arrive at the refugee camp and receive a respite from our worries and fears.”
How it Adds Description
Describing the camp as a respite will show the reader that these refugees feel like they are in paradise after what they have escaped from and endured to get there. Respite is also a good word to use instead of paradise or oasis because it implies a sense of impermanence; the refugees’ stay (or the feeling of happiness) is not meant to last forever.
10. Listless
Definition
Without drive, concern, or emotion.
Examples
“Things had remained so dire for so long that the refugee camp felt listless and empty.”
“The listless refugee camp looked like an apocalyptic film with its grey structures and hopeless faces.”
How it Adds Description
Listless implies such a deep state of absolute depression and emptiness that one doesn’t even care to move. Maybe it’s because of what they’re hiding from, or because of what they’ve lost, or because the camp conditions are so horrible. Whatever the reason, the atmosphere of the camp is one of defeat.