Transcript The IDP crisis today and the protracted IDP situations in

The IDP crisis today and
the protracted IDP
situations in Africa
Mahnirban Calcutta Research Group, India
5 December 2007
Khassim Diagne, Senior Policy Advisor,
UNHCR Geneva
Background
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Current estimates by IDMC place the number of
conflict related IDPs at 24.5 million in 2006. The bulk
of it in Africa.
Countries with the highest number: Sudan (5m),
Uganda (1.7m) and DRC (1.1m). Other situations
include Cote d’Ivoire (700,000), Somalia (400,000)
and Chad (150,000)
West Africa. A new terminology is arising called «
climate change displacement. While majority of
displacement is due to conflicts, increasingly
displacement is due to natural disasters as recently
seen with the floods in Uganda, Somalia and parts of»
Who is an IDP?
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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 (Guiding
Principles on Internal Displacement)
An attempted definition of a
protracted IDP situation
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New field of research
Using the refugee analogy, 25,000 IDPs or more who have been
in exile for five or more years. NRC estimates that the average
length of the conflicts that caused displacement and prevented
return stood at 14 years in 2004.
However, caution about using an arbitrary figure such as 25,000,
or even a particular timeframe. Instead the focus should be the
absence or failure of solutions as such.
At Brookings Bern/UNHCR seminar in June 2007, protracted IDP
situations are those in which:
The process for finding durable solutions is stalled, and/or
IDPs are marginalized as a consequence of violations or a lack
of protection of human rights, including economic, social and
cultural rights.
Causes of protracted
displacements in Africa
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Starting point is that protracted displacement in Africa occur on
the territories of fragile or collapsed states
Overwhelming majority of displacement situations in Africa are
the result of civil wars, inter-communal violence or government
repression. Some of these conflicts are either frozen (Uganda,
Chad, Cote d’Ivoire) or active (Democratic Republic of the
Congo, Sudan). In 2000, an intra-state conflict, war between
Eritrea and Ethiopia, however, resulted in massive displacement.
Intense ethnic and communal violence (Burundi, DRC, Liberia,
Sierra Leone, Sudan, Chad), high levels of organized violence
and destruction
Features
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In general displaced do not settle in camps, but
rather locate in or nearer “host communities” or in
urban areas making them harder to access.
Mostly populated by a large proportion of people
with special needs such as children, women and the
elderly
Live in great deprivation and danger, SGBV
Protracted IDP situations rarely seen as
humanitarian emergencies
Features
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Vested economic interest by various parties in the
continuation of the armed conflict
Lack of international interest
State reluctant to open their borders. Policy of
containment. Safe zones particularly where
peacekeeping operations exist. Asylum fatigue
Residual caseloads
Political hostages and vested economic interests
Inadequate national responses
Visible consequences
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Destabilizing effects on regional security
Material deprivation
Idleness, despair and low self worth,
Social tension and violence
Dependency syndrome, passive recipients of
assistance
Perception of burden, resentment and hostility
Discrimination based on being an IDP
Lack of adequate housing
Lack of protection of property left behind
Consequences
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Lack of (access to) work/livelihoods
Lack of documentation
No or limited access to health and education
Sometimes lack of food/food security
Difficulties accessing pension rights and asserting
tenancy rights
Discrimination related to the fact of their
displacement
Limitations on their free choice of durable solutions
What could be some of the
solutions – preliminary remarks
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Invariably, the policy options for dealing with
protracted IDP situations revolve around the three
solutions under section V of the GP. Ultimately
political commitment is key to resolving the conflicts
that are at the root causes of most protracted IDP
situations. To quote former Assistant High
Commissioner, Kamel Morjane, “for every protracted
situation, there is a political origin. Camps and idle
populations do not simply appear as a natural
consequence of forced displacement – they are
established in response to political realities and
constraints. Solutions, then, must ultimately be
sought in the political arena.”
Solutions – preliminary
remarks
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While presented separately, comprehensive
plans of actions for IDPs, involving a mix of
the three solutions, have a clear conceptual
logic. They require as former High
Commissioner Ogata said “a convergence of
interests covering humanitarian, political, and
security action by states, international and
regional powers”
Solution 1: Return to
communities of origin
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Return to communities of origin: may include
the identification of particular sub-groups
sharing certain characteristics (political
affiliation, ethnic, religious, language and/or
cultural background) and/or originating from a
specific part of the country of origin where
conditions may be more conducive for return
Solution 2: Integration in host
communities
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Integration in host communities: given the
considerable time that IDPs have spent in the area
of displacement, local integration may be the only
viable option. Economic self-reliance will be key.
However, comprehensive package providing
concrete benefits for the host communities must be
developed. Role of development actors will be
crucial. Ensure that, from the outset, assistance
programs for IDPs have a limited emergency relief
and care and maintenance phase. Early recovery,
self reliance built in the operations from the start
Solution 3: Relocation to
another part of the country
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Relocation and reintegration elsewhere in the
country
Community based programs also necessary
to ensure brassage between the two groups
Other solutions
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Prevention and mitigation of displacement. Are
there steps which can be taken early in
displacement from becoming a protracted situation.
See Guiding Principle, no 21 (para 3)
Education, peace education programs,
Regional initiatives such as the AU Convention on
IDPs preceded by a Heads of State Summit on
Forced displacement in Africa. International
Conference on the Great Lakes region and Regional
IDP Protocol
RSG Framework for Durable Solutions offers
guidance to policy makers
Role of national actors
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Primary responsibility for IDPs rests with national
authorities since IDPs remain under the jurisdiction
of their national governments. See in particular
Principle 6 and Principle 28
Need for expanded attention to capacity building for
national/local authorities
Negotiation with non state entities
Legislation
Public policy
Improving accountability
Advocacy efforts with a special focus on women and
children
Role of international
community
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Lead agency concept
Collaborative approach (lack of predictability,
accountability, partnership)
Cluster approach to improve humanitarian response
RSG for the HR of IDPs and the Guiding Principles
in 1998.
Need to inscribe IDP issues in the agenda of the
Peacebuilding Commission and other development
initiatives
Inputs by the IDPs
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Focus on vulnerabilities of both IDPs and
host communities
IDPs and peace processes (research being
carried out on the subject by the Brookings
Bern Project on Internal Displacement) –
“Track one and two Diplomacy” and “People
to People Diplomacy”.
Research questions
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Dedicated research on the subject in
comparison with refugee programs i.e. what
are the similarities, the differences.
Case studies from Africa and Asia regions
and what they tell notably on coping
mechanisms issues