The Lost Boys

Approximately 26,000 boys, during the late 1980’s, fled the southern part of Sudan in an effort to escape the violence that had consumed their country. With such an enormous amount of refugees fleeing Sudan, it was described as an “exodus of biblical proportions”(Corbett, 2001). These refugees were dubbed “The Lost Boy” due to the many similarities they had with the Peter Pan’s followers in the story Neverland. Like the fictional characters in the story, most of these boys, whose ages were all below 18, had no parents due to being orphaned by the civil war. As I continue discussing this particular migration case, I will talk about what led to the move of these “Lost Boys” in order for you to gain a better understanding of their predicament. In addition, I will go into detail about the journey they took, difficulties they faced, and the effects of their migration. With those details, I will be able to really explain what went on in
This safe haven they arrived at was the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya that took about a year to reach (McKay, 2002). Over the course of their walk, any were shot at by Northern troops, died from starvation and dehydration, eaten by predator such as lions and crocodiles. All of these dangers they faced had nearly cut the number of boys in half. Out of the 26,000 boys that had started the journey to the refugee camps, only 10,000 boys made it into the camp in Kenya (IRC, 2014). Though they finally had a place that provided shelter, food, and water, there was still some issues in this camp. One refugee tells reporter “In Kakuma, the native people treated us badly because they didn’t know us. They were nomadic people called Turkana. They didn’t know Sudanese” (Langbany 2004).In addition, overcrowding was a big issue. In the picture of the refugee camp, it is clearly shown in how clustered the mud huts are, which is what they lived in (appendix