WUNRN
IDMC - Internal Displacement
Monitoring Centre
Norwegian Refugee Council
Direct Link to Full 78-Page 2014
Report:
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INTERNALLY DISPLACED WOMEN &
CHILDREN
The
often-cited statistic that as many as 80 per cent of displaced populations are
women and children fails to convey the complete devastation that displacement
visits upon women and communities. Leaving homes, property and community behind
renders women vulnerable to violence, disease and food scarcity, whether they
flee willingly or unwillingly. Internally displaced women face additional
dangers as they are often invisible to the international community within
the context of violent conflict. Camps for refugees and the internally
displaced have been criticized for not addressing women’s needs and concerns in
their design and procedure. Failure to account for women’s security and health
needs can make a camp that was intended to provide refuge a dangerous and
deadly place for women and girls.
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INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS -
INCREASED NUMBERS - REPORT - WOMEN & CHILDREN - CHALLENGES FOR LEGAL
PROTECTION & SUPPORT
In
at least 50 countries around the world, an estimated 35 million uprooted people
are living in a state of flight from conflict and persecution, while many other
millions have been displaced by natural disasters, according to the United
Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
A large proportion of these uprooted people are classified as 'Internally
Displaced Persons (IDPs)' - people who, through natural disaster or conflict,
have had to flee their homes but have stayed within their state of origin.
Unlike refugees, IDPs do not cross an international border.
Dennis McNamara, director of the UN Inter-Agency Internal Displacement Division
(IAIDD) told IRIN: "Globally we estimate approximately 25 million IDPs
have been created from conflict and violence, and probably another 25 to 30
million through natural disasters, including the current tsunami … so the IDPs
are two to three times the size of the global refugee problem."
IDPs are usually destitute for the same reasons as refugees, but do not enjoy
the same legal protection. Jens-Hagan Eschenbacher, Communication Coordinator
of the Global IDP Project,
told IRIN that "Internally displaced people are among the most vulnerable
victims of conflict. Like refugees, they have fled fighting or human rights
abuses but, unlike them, they have not crossed an international border. This
means that the international community is not under the same legal obligation
to protect them, help them to return home, or find them somewhere new to live.
Millions are forced to live in utter destitution, without adequate access to
food, jobs, healthcare and education."
No international mechanisms are in place to assist IDPs in their home country.
"The UN and member states are far more reluctant to use force to stop IDP
flows than flows of refugees," said Ken Bacon, director of
Washington-based Refugees International. "There is a vast reluctance to
interfere in the affairs of a sovereign state."
This continued dilemma facing the international community results in reactive
responses to IDPs, coupled with an absence of preventative action. "The
world is only able to deal with the symptoms, and not the disease it self, that
causes displacement in places like Darfur and Cote D'Ivoire" he told IRIN.
Uprooted and unprotected
The number of refugees worldwide has been falling in recent years, while the
number of internally displaced persons has grown significantly. The Global IDP
Project supported by the Norwegian Refugee Council estimates that conflict or
human rights violations have created at least 25 million IDPs; by comparison,
the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, announced in late 2004 that the
global refugee population was under 10 million, and falling steadily.
While refugee numbers are declining, partly due to the cessation of specific
conflicts and massive returns witnessed in Afghanistan and Angola, the
statistics for IDPs are bleak: "Most IDPs are displaced by internal
conflicts, and the increase in the number of internal conflicts since the end
of the Cold War certainly has been one of the reasons for the growing number of
IDPs, particularly in the early 1990s." Jens-Hagan Eschenbacher explained
to IRIN.
Although there have been a number of recent wars between states in Africa, most
conflicts have been internal: the prevalence of unstable states, underdevelopment
combined with unremitting poverty, weak civil societies, social marginalisation
and the absence of accountable governments are factors raised by analysts to
explain the social and political strife that has produced a disproportionate
number of IDPs in Africa. Significant numbers of people have also been
displaced by natural disasters.
Further exacerbating the vexed question of IDPs, it appears to be increasingly
difficult to cross borders in search of protection from violence, with
neighbouring states and other asylum countries closing their borders in fear of
large influxes of refugees. To prevent more internal displacement, it is
considered essential to do more to prevent the conflicts that force people to
flee.
The immediate issues facing IDPs are those of survival and protection. Until
relatively recently, IDPs were neglected by the international community, and
the mechanisms for assistance and legal protection. According to McNamara of
the IAIDD, "Protection remains a major concern. It is a highly sensitive
issue due to the whole emphasis given to national sovereignty, and requires
careful handling."
IDPs often have nobody to turn to. Many governments, though responsible for the
security and well-being of their citizens, are unable or unwilling to help;
government-backed militias, or governments themselves, are sometimes the main
agents of displacement.
Once people have fled across an international boundary, making them refugees,
they may face hardship, but normally their lives are no longer endangered by
the violence or persecution that caused their flight. By contrast, IDPs may
face ongoing persecution and violence, and be forced to keep moving for months
or years. In Sierra Leone, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo there
are numerous stories of families and communities who have been on the run in
their own country for years.
"IDPs
often remain exposed to grave security risks and human rights violations, and
assistance often does not reach them because of insecurity, governments
limiting humanitarian access, or lack of attention by national or international
actors," Eschenbacher commented to IRIN.
Though the UNHCR's central role is to help those who have fled their countries
of origin, the sheer scale of the problem, and the humanitarian concerns it
raises, have recently forced the international community to give IDPs
increasing attention. The countries with the largest number of IDPs - Sudan,
Angola, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) - have all suffered
protracted civil wars, while others - such as Somalia, Afghanistan, Liberia,
and Sierra Leone - not only experienced domestic conflict but also the collapse
of government institutions and services. In Sudan alone there are an estimated
4 million IDPs.
Led by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), advocating on behalf of IDPs for
change in assistance policy and humanitarian law, the international community
is beginning to take action. "Clearly, IDPs don't get enough limelight but
the world is turning its attention more than ever towards IDPs," noted
Bacon of Refugee International. "The Guiding Principles recently developed
for IDPs have been a huge contribution to refugee law and IDP protection, but
what we don't have yet is political agreement on how to deal with the IDP
crisis."
Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement
The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement
drawn up by a team of international experts under the direction of the UN
Secretary-General, were launched by the UN in 1998.
The 30 principles create a clear legal framework for the protection of IDPs,
and are the first international standards to define their rights, the
obligation of both governments and rebel groups to protect them, and to empower
the IDPs themselves.
Under the Guiding Principles (GPs), IDPs have the right to request and receive
protection and humanitarian assistance from national authorities. However, as
Dennis McNamara told IRIN, "the major weakness here is that these
principles are non-binding in international law. A few countries have
incorporated them into national law, but generally this has not happened."
At their core the GPs represent a potentially formidable tool for the
empowerment of IDPs, and are also meant to provide direction for UN agencies
and other organisations concerned with IDPs. The GPs do not involve additions
or alterations to laws, but instead draw on existing laws, particularly those
governing international human rights, international humanitarian law and
refugee law.
If disseminated, understood and implemented, the GPs represent a critical tool
for responding to the needs of IDPs.
The Principles further speak of the right of IDPs to participate in planning
and distributing supplies, and in managing their return home and reintegration.
Knowledge of these rights is very clearly a first step to acquiring power. The
GPs also set standards against which conditions in countries can be monitored
and assessed.
While destitute IDPs may not be in a position to pursue advocacy, they do have
this right, and in more favourable circumstances it can be exercised. The
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the US-based
Brookings Institution have published a 'Handbook for Applying the Guiding
Principles', which details the kinds of steps that can be taken to provide and
improve protection for IDPs.
The GPs make it clear that IDPs not only need to have their basic needs
fulfilled but also have the right to protection, and that there is a need to
create a framework for developing protection strategies.
Important though this right is, there is as yet no international consensus on
who should undertake protection activities to support the response strategies.
Instead, what has emerged is a collaborative approach on the part of UN
agencies, with the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator assuming the lead role. When
asked what powers the IAIDD or other bodies have in implementing the GPs,
McNamara said, "In terms of whether we have any 'teeth', what we have is
an inter-agency mechanism that can make recommendations to agencies and
donors."
The GPs do not give people new rights, or provide the means by which these
rights can be achieved. Ultimately, the GPs are only a tool which can be used
by the politically weak (and their advocates) to challenge the politically
powerful.
Despite increased attention to the plight of IDPs, the UN Inter-Agency
Standing Committee reported in 2001 that the needs of displaced
populations "continue to be inadequately addressed". The report
attributed this to two broad factors: first, the unwillingness or inability of
governments to address the needs of the displaced; and second, "serious
gaps" in the UN's response to IDPs.
Stark legal differences between refugees and IDPs
According to UNHCR data, the agency is currently assisting 9.7 million
refugees, 1.1 million returned refugees and 5.3 million IDPs.
A refugee is someone who, "owing to a well-founded fear of being
persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a
particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his
nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail
himself of the protection of that country," according to the 1951
Convention on the Status of Refugees.
The 1969 Convention of the Organization of African Unity on refugee problems in
Africa and the 1984 Cartegena Declaration on refugees have broadened that
definition to include people fleeing events that seriously disrupt public
order, such as armed conflicts and disturbances.
Born out of the need to address the masses of European refugees after WW2, the
United Nations High Commission for Refugees has a mandate primarily to protect
refugees. IDPs fall through bureaucratic, legal and programmatic cracks and to
date have been assisted to a limited degree only by international and local
NGOs.
Remaining in one's own country as an IDP is risky, as there are no
international mechanisms for protection. IDPs are often under threat from
hostile government forces or militias, such as those in Sudan's western Darfur
region, where Arab militias continually terrify residents of the camps.
IDPs can be assisted, but UN agencies can only operate at the request of the
United Nations Secretary-General or the General Assembly, and with the consent
of the country involved. For example, through government cooperation, the
international community has been able to assist the millions of people displaced
by the Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004.
"If you are a refugee you have some sort of international
protection," said David Mazersky of the International Crisis Group.
"You have coverage by UNHCR and your rights are also protected - IDPs are
still citizens of their countries, and are not afforded protection. These
people are harder to identify."
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is active in trying to
protect the rights of internally displaced people. As the overseer of the
Geneva Conventions, the organisation has long cared for the victims of internal
violence and conflict. It conducts protection and assistance programmes for
victims of armed conflict in close to 80 situations worldwide, in almost all of
which people have been displaced.
The ICRC also looks after the tens of thousands of people who have not been
displaced, but live in areas from which others have fled or where they have
settled. For reasons such as illness or injury, many cannot flee and require
assistance, while people in areas where others resettle may also need help, as
they often experience a swift decline their standard of living once IDPs arrive
en masse.
Problems resulting from displacement are a government's responsibility, says
the ICRC, and the government bears primary responsibility for IDPs. Aid is only
a temporary measure - it is the government in question that must solve the
problem.
UNHCR seeks to make sure that states are aware of their obligations in
protecting refugees and those seeking asylum. Countries who attempt to forcibly
return refugees to their country of origin are breaking international law, as
refugees may face danger or discrimination between groups of refugees.
But IDPs can be forced to leave camps or designated areas by their own national
officials, as in Darfur, and no aid organization or government has the
authority to prevent this.
Physical and material assistance
The legal status of refugees and IDPs is strikingly different under
international law, and their access to assistance is no less marked. Newly
arrived refugees are entitled to receive food, shelter and a safe environment
in their country of asylum. International laws and conventions, which have been
reviewed over the years, are in place to protect them. UNHCR works with other
aid organizations within this well-defined legal framework to either repatriate
or resettle registered refugees, or maintain them in camps, where the agencies
strive to comply with internationally agreed standards of minimum food
provision, access to health and water, and adequate sanitation and shelter.
Refugee camps often have more resources and services than the home communities
of the refugees. A camp administered by aid organizations for the UNHCR often
not only provides basic medical care and establishes schools, but may also
offer adults literacy and job training. UNHCR and over 500 local or
international partner agencies provide a wide range of services, sometimes
including financial grants and income-generating projects, so that refugees
become self-sufficient as quickly as possible and are better prepared for life
when they return home. When registered refugees return home they are provided
with basic packages of provisions and are often assisted with transportation
and other means.
The internally displaced face much more uncertain treatment. Unlike refugees,
IDPs may be trapped in violent conflict and remain invisible to the
international community for months or years as populations disperse, flee and
continually move to avoid conflict or direct harassment.
In some cases their government may view them as enemies for economic,
sociopolitical or ethnic reasons and threaten their safety. Humanitarian law
prohibits the forcible removal of civilians from their residence unless
security concerns or military reasons require it, but the international
community has a poor record of successful interventions in situations where a
government may be the main belligerent in an internal conflict. Donors, too,
are normally reluctant to become involved in what may be deemed an internal
situation.
Some displaced people move a few miles from their homes; others travel great
distances; some stay with family or friends in other areas. Uprooted from their
livelihoods, community support systems and any kind of representation, their
plight is often severe.
When such people end up in IDP 'camps' or designated areas, they are the
responsibility of the government, and their welfare depends on how willing it
is to help, or allow outside agencies access to assist them.
"Every situation has different needs," said Nigel Marsh, a spokesman
for World Vision, one of many international NGOs assisting IDPs. "Much
depends on physical location - some people are in desperate need of water and
some are backed up against a lake, so we can't treat everyone the same at
all".
One illustration is the 1.6 million people who have been displaced by
insurgency in northern Uganda. They are forced to live in hundreds of camps
with minimal access to services and low quantities of donated food, while scant
protection from the authorities means they are still preyed upon by the rebels
that caused their displacement. Some have lived in these wretched camp
environments for years and would prefer to be independent in 'the bush',
fending for themselves, but survival is too uncertain.
"The world has grown used to large numbers of displaced people across
Africa. These numbers are in Sudan, Somalia and the Congo," Marsh
explained, "What we have to get across is just how corrosive
[displacement] is - it saps people's will to get their lives on track."
Agencies have found that an astonishing number of displaced persons suffer from
clinical depression.
A few months after assuming directorship of the Inter-Agency for the Internal
Displaced Division (IAIDD), Dennis McNamara told IRIN, "I have been very
struck by the communities of IDPs that I have visited. They are the poorest of
the poor - amongst the most vulnerable of already impoverished communities.
They don't get any attention, are hidden away, and often very neglected."
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