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Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement
http://www.unhcr.org/43ce1cff2.html
UN Independent Expert on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/IDPersons/Pages/IDPersonsIndex.aspx
National Instruments on Internal Displacement – A Guide to Their Development – 82 Pages
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/IDPersons/Law-and-policymaking_Guide-2013.pdf
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/IDPersons/Pages/Issues.aspx
IDPs – Internally Displaced
Persons
Who are internally displaced
persons?
According to the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement,
internally displaced persons (also known as "IDPs") 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 border."
What
challenges do internally displaced persons face?
People forced to flee or leave their homes - particularly in
situations of armed conflict - are generally subject to heightened
vulnerability in a number of areas. Displaced persons suffer significantly
higher rates of mortality than the general population. They also remain at high
risk of physical attack, sexual assault and abduction, and frequently are
deprived of adequate shelter, food and health services.
The overwhelming majority of internally displaced persons are
women and children who are especially at risk of abuse of their basic rights.
More often than refugees, the internally displaced tend to remain close to or
become trapped in zones of conflict, caught in the cross-fire and at risk of
being used as pawns, targets or human shields by the belligerents.
What is
the difference between an internally displaced person and a refugee?
According to the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees, a
"refugee" is a person who, "owing to 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, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself
of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being
outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such
events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it."
Subsequent international instruments (such as the Cartagena Declaration on
Refugees and the Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems
in Africa) have expanded this definition for some states to persons fleeing the
general effects of armed conflict and/or natural disaster.
A crucial requirement to be considered a "refugee" is
crossing an international border. Persons forcibly displaced from their homes
who cannot or choose not to cross a border, therefore, are not considered
refugees, even if they share many of the same circumstances and challenges as
those who do. Unlike refugees, these internally displaced persons do not have a
special status in international law with rights specific to their situation.
The term "internally displaced person" is merely descriptive.
What
rights do internally displaced persons have?
Like all human beings, internally displaced persons enjoy human
rights that are articulated by international human rights instruments and
customary law. In situations of armed conflict, moreover, they enjoy the same
rights as other civilians to the various protections provided by international
humanitarian law.
The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, created in 1998,
restate and compile existing international human rights and humanitarian law
germane to the internally displaced and also attempt to clarify grey areas and
gaps in the various instruments with regard to situations of particular interest
to the internally displaced.
The Guiding Principles note that arbitrary displacement in the
first instance is prohibited (Principles 5-7). Once persons have been
displaced, they retain a broad range of economic, social, cultural, civil and
political rights, including the right to basic humanitarian assistance (such as
food, medicine, shelter), the right to be protected from physical violence, the
right to education, freedom of movement and residence, political rights such as
the right to participate in public affairs and the right to participate in
economic activities (Principles 10-23). Displaced persons also have the right
to assistance from competent authorities in voluntary, dignified and safe
return, resettlement or local integration, including help in recovering lost
property and possessions. When restitution is not possible, the Guiding
Principles call for compensation or just reparation (Principles 28-30).
Whose
responsibility is it to protect and assist internally displaced persons?
As a crucial element of sovereignty, it is the Governments of the
states where internally displaced persons are found that have the primary
responsibility for their assistance and protection. The international
community's role is complementary.
At the international level, no single agency or organization has
been designated as the global lead on protection and assistance of internally
displaced persons. Rather, all are called upon to cooperate with each other to
help address these needs pursuant to the "collaborative approach".
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