African Refugee Camps Dataset

The African Refugee Camps Dataset (ARCD) is a geospatial panel dataset of refugee camps in operation in sub-Saharan Africa from 1999 to 2024. Prior data on refugee camps have lacked verified information on camp location, timing of operations, and size. The ARCD addresses this by including the verified geolocation of each camp, verified opening and closing dates, and verified annual refugee population counts. The dataset also provides information on the conflicts that led to the construction of each camp, and geospatial characteristics of each camp location calculated using publicly available geospatial data. It is part of a broader effort to improve publicly available data on the location, timing, and size of refugee camps around the world.