Internally displaced person

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Tailor in Labuje IDP camp in Uganda
Tailor in Labuje IDP camp in Uganda

Internally displaced persons (IDPs) are people forced to flee their homes but who, unlike refugees, remain within their country's borders. At the end of 2006 estimates of the world IDP population rose to 24.5 million in some 52 countries. The region with the largest IDP population is Africa with some 11.8 million in 21 countries.[1]

Contents

[edit] Definition

There is no legal definition as there is for a refugee. However, a United Nations report, Guiding principles on Internal Displacement uses the definition:

internally displaced persons are persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border.[2]

[edit] IDP populations

It is very difficult to get accurate figures for IDPs. While the case of IDPs in large camps such as those in Darfur, western Sudan, are relatively well-reported, it is very difficult to assess those IDPs who flee to larger towns and cities. It is necessary in many instances to supplement official figures with additional information obtained from operational humanitarian organizations on the ground. Thus, the 24.5 million figure must be treated as an estimate.[3]

[edit] IDP Statistics

The largest IDP populations can be found in Colombia, the DRC, Iraq, Sudan, Turkey, and Uganda, each with IDP populations of over one million.[4] An updated country by country breakdown can be found at: IDMC Global Statistics It has been estimated that between 70 and 80% of all IDPs are women and children.[5]

[edit] Countries with significant IDP populations

Main article: IDPs in the United States

[edit] Protection and Assistance

The problem of protecting and assisting IDPs is not a new issue. In international law it is the responsibility of the government concerned to provide assistance and protection for the IDPs in their country. However, as many of the displaced are a result of civil conflict and violence or where the authority of the central state is in doubt, there is no local authority willing to provide assistance and protection.[6] It has been estimated that some 5 million IDPs in 11 countries are "without any significant humanitarian assistance from their governments."[7]

Unlike the case of refugees, there is no international humanitarian institution which has the overall responsibility of protecting and assisting the refugees. A number of organizations have stepped into the breach in specific circumstances.

[edit] UNHCR

The UNHCR was mandated by General Assembly Resolution 428 (V) of 14 December 1950 to "lead and coordinate international action for the worldwide protection of refugees and the resolution of refugee problems....guided by the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol."[8] The UNHCR has traditionally argued that it does not have a "general competence for IDPs" even though at least since 1972 it had relief and rehabillatation programs for those displaced within a country. However, in cases where there is a specific request by the UN Secretary General and with the consent of the State concerned it has been willing to respond by assisting IDPs in a given instance.[9] In 2005 it was helping some 5.6 million IDPs (out of over 25 million), but only about 1.1 million in Africa.[10][11] In 2005, the UNHCR signed an agreement with other humanitarian agencies. "Under this agreement, UNHCR will assume the lead responsibility for protection, emergency shelter and camp management for internally displaced people."[12]

[edit] ICRC

The ICRC has a mandate of ensuring the application of International Humanitarian Law as it affects civilians in the midst of armed conflict. They have traditionally not distinguished between civilians who are internally displaced and those who remain in their homes. In a 2006 policy statement, the ICRC stated:

The ICRC's overall objective is to alleviate the suffering of people who are caught up in armed conflict and other situations of violence. To that end, the organization strives to provide effective and efficient assistance and protection for such persons, be they displaced or not, while taking into consideration the action of other humanitarian organizations. On the basis of its long experience in different parts of the world, the ICRC has defined an operational approach towards the civilian population as a whole that is designed to meet the most urgent humanitarian needs of both displaced persons and local and host communities.[13]

However, its Director of Operations has earlier recognized that IDPs "deprived of shelter and their habitual sources of food, water, medicine and money, they have different, and often more urgent, material needs."[14]

[edit] Collaborative Approach

The current system which is often referred to as the collaborative approach, shares the responsibility for protecting and assisting IDPs among the UN agencies, i.e. UNHCR, Unicef, WFP, UNDP, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the inter-governmental organization IOM, the ICRC and International NGOs. Coordination is the responsibility of the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator and the Humanitarian Coordinator in the country concerned.[15] They are assisted by the Inter-Agency Displacement Division which was created in 2004 and is housed in the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs(OCHA).[16]

The original collaborative approach has come under increasing criticism. Roberta Cohen reports:

Nearly every UN and independent evaluation has found the collaborative approach deficient when it comes to IDPs. To begin with, there is no real locus of responsibility in the field for assisting and protecting...There is also no predictability of action, as the different agencies are free to pick and choose the situations in which they wish to become involved on the basis of their respective mandates, resources, and interests. In every new emergency, no one knows for sure which agency or combination thereof will become involved.[17]

In 2005 an attempt to fix the problem by giving sectoral responsibilities to different humanitarian agencies, most notably with the UNHCR taking on the responsibility for protection and the management of camps and emergency shelters.[18]

[edit] International Law

Unlike the case of refugees, there is no international treaty which applies specfically to IDPs. Recognizing the gap, the UN Secretary-General, Boutros-Ghali appointed Francis Deng in 1992 as his representative for internally displaced persons. Besides acting as an advocate for IDPs, Deng set out in 1994, at the request of the UN General Assembly to examine and bring together existing international laws which relating to the protection of IDPs.[19] The result of this work was the document, Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.[20]

The Guiding Principles lay out the responsibilities of states before displacement – that is, to prevent displacement – during and after displacement. They have been endorsed by the UN General Assembly, the African Commission on Human and People's Rights (ACHPR) and by the signatories to the 2006 Pact on Security, Stability and Development in the Great Lakes Region, which include Sudan, DRC and Uganda.

The Guiding Principles, however, are non-binding. As Bahame Tom Nyanduga, Special Rapporteur on Refugees, IDPs and Asylum Seekers in Africa for the ACHPR has stated, “the absence of a binding international legal regime on internal displacement is a grave lacuna in international law."[21]

In September 2004 the Secretary-General of the UN showed the continuing concern of his office by appointing Walter Kälin as his Representative on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons. Part of his mandate includes the promoting of the Guiding Principles.[22]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Internal Displacement: Global Overview of Trends and Developments in 2006. Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) (April 2007). Retrieved on 2007-10-23.
  2. ^ Deng, Francis, “The guiding principles on internal displacement”, E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.l, February 11. New York, NY: United Nations., New York: United Nations 
  3. ^ IDMC (April 2006). INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT Global Overview of Trends and Developments in 2006. Geneva: Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, Norwegian Refugee Council. p. 13
  4. ^ Global Statistics. IDMC. Retrieved on 2007-10-24.
  5. ^ IDMC (April 2006). INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT Global Overview of Trends and Developments in 2006. Geneva: Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, Norwegian Refugee Council. p. 6
  6. ^ Goodwin-Gill, Guy S. (1996). The refugee in international law. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-826019-9. p. 264
  7. ^ IDMC (April 2006). INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT Global Overview of Trends and Developments in 2006. Geneva: Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, Norwegian Refugee Council. p. 6
  8. ^ Mission Statement. UNHCR. Retrieved on 2007-10-24.
  9. ^ Goodwin-Gill, Guy S. (1996). The refugee in international law. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-826019-9. p. 266
  10. ^ Roberta Cohen in Marsella, Anthony J.. Fear of Persecution: Global Human Rights, International Law, and Human Well-Being. Lexington, Mass: Lexington Books. ISBN 0-7391-1566-9. p. 15
  11. ^ Cohen, Roberta (Winter/Spring 2006). "Strengthening Protection of IDPs: The UN's Role". Georgetown Journal of International Affairs.  p. 106
  12. ^ Internally Displaced People Q&A. UNHCR. Retrieved on 2007-10-24.
  13. ^ ICRC Position on Internally Displaced Persons. Retrieved on 2007-10-23.
  14. ^ Tauxe, Jean-Daniel. "We Should Have Humanitarian Access to Displaced Civilians", International Herald Tribune, 2000-03-01. Retrieved on 2007-10-24. 
  15. ^ IASC (September 2004). Implementing the Collaborative Response to Situations of Internal Displacement. New York: United Nations. 
  16. ^ IDD
  17. ^ Cohen, Roberta (Winter/Spring 2006). "Strengthening Protection of IDPs: The UN's Role". Georgetown Journal of International Affairs. p. 105
  18. ^ Cohen, Roberta (Winter/Spring 2006). "Strengthening Protection of IDPs: The UN's Role". Georgetown Journal of International Affairs. p. 105
  19. ^ Roberta Cohen in Marsella, Anthony J.. Fear of Persecution: Global Human Rights, International Law, and Human Well-Being. Lexington, Mass: Lexington Books. ISBN 0-7391-1566-9. p. 20
  20. ^ Deng, Francis, “The guiding principles on internal displacement”, E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.l, February 11. New York, NY: United Nations., New York: United Nations 
  21. ^ Nyanduga, Bahame Tom (September 2004). "The challenge of internal displacement in Africa". Forced Migration Review 21. 
  22. ^ Mandate. UNHCHR. Retrieved on 2007-10-24.

[edit] References

[edit] External links