Featured Image is an IDP camp in Dollo Ado, Ethiopia
When you think of the word “Refugee” what usually comes to mind? We often think about people who have had to flee their home country because of fear of persecution and conflict and so on. However, what about those, who don’t leave? Those that may not be able to leave the country for a variety of reasons such as health. What I am referring to here, are those who become displaced internally, often referred to as IDP’s (Internally Displaced People). Internally Displaced people are often overlooked in the discussion of forced displacement, often because they have not fled their own homes, many must think they must feel safe enough to stay and are therefore not considered refugees under the 1951 Refugee Convention, despite many of them facing conditions almost identical to ‘traditional’ forced migrants.
Not sure what an Internally Displaced Person (IDP)? Watch this short video
The issues surrounding Internally Displaced People I would argue is severely overlooked by the international community. We have no effective common framework or legal regime for these people in the same way we have for refugees and asylum seekers. The latest UNHCR Global Trends Report estimates that as of the end of 2022, forced displacement now exceeds 100 million, with 60% of these people being internally displaced (UNHCR, 2022). Many of these people are out of reach from humanitarian help and yet the UN Refugee Agency have stated themselves that IDP’s are some of the most vulnerable people in society. Although these people are not refugees, they are in fact in a “Refugee-like” situation but not covered by the UN Refugee Agency’s mandate.
Top twenty-five countries with most internal displacements in 2021
What protections currently exist for Internally Displaced People?
Currently there exists no legal framework in the international system that governs the issue of internally displaced people like we have with refugees and the Refugee Convention. The closest thing we have to any sort of framework is the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement published by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in 1998. This is considered by many to be the major framework for the governance of Internally Displaced People in the international system. In 1992, the Secretary-General of the United Nations appointed a representative for Internally Displaced People to look at the consequences for internal displacement, their status in international law and current existing institutional arrangements and how their protection and assistance could be improved. The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement can be coined as what we call in the international community as ‘Soft Law’. Soft Law is simply derived from things such as resolutions and guidelines but are not legally binding hence the term ‘soft’ law. Let’s take a look at what this ‘normative framework’ looks like.
The Normative Framework
As stated previously, the Guiding Principles form the basis of the normative framework for IDP’s. It is a document of 30 ‘principles’ that provide what protections should exist for IDP’s and what their rights should be. Although these principles are not legally binding they do reflect already established human rights and International/Refugee law despite their being no treaty dedicated to IDP’s.
The framework can be split into 5 strands. These are: (i) general principles; (ii) protection from displacement; (iii) Protection during displacement; (iv) Humanitarian assistance (v) Return, Resettlement and Reintegration.
Section one on general principles talks about enjoying full equality and rights and freedoms under international and domestic law. In this section it also explicitly states that national authorities have the primary responsibility to provide protection and humanitarian assistance to IDP’s within their jurisdiction. However what happens in the case where a government fails to uphold the rights of IDP’s? International norms would state that duty then falls upon the international community tp uphold those fundamental rights, especially in situations such as genocide. This may be more commonly known to people as the Responsibility to Protect. However, this concept has often been called into question due to how exactly the international community can come to the protection of people under attack by their own government. Take for example the Rwandan genocide where some 1.5 million people where displaced internally, including many of Hutu ethnicity who where killed in an IDP camp in Kebeho, Southwestern Rwanda. Despite there being Australian soldiers based at the camp as part of a peacekeeping mission, there was very little they could do to stop the massacre. The issue of IDP’s and the upholding of their rights, ties neatly into the debate surrounding the responsibility to protect and calls into question these first set of principles and there effectiveness within the guiding principles document.
Arguably the guiding principles are simply just guidance that does nothing to really solidify support or protection for Internally Displaced People. I argue that the UN Refugee Agency fails to adeoqutly grip the issue of IDP’s despite these people facing almost the same challenges as Refugees recognised under the Refugee Convention. This brings us on to the next point on the “Refugee-Like” situation.
The “Refugee-Like” Situation?
Persons in a refugee-like situation are “groups of persons who are outside their country or territory of origin and who face protection risks similar to those of refugees, but for whom refugee status has, for practical or other reasons, not been ascertained.” (UNHCR, 2013)
The Refugee-like situation is an interesting concept I want to introduce to this blog when talking about IDP’s. A “Refugee-like” situation is a term officially recognised by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The quote above puts simply what this concept means. This term in the last decade has mainly been used to describe the situation that Syrian-Armenians find themselves in. Due to the conflict in Syria many ethnic Armenians in Syria have fled to Armenia for refuge. It is however a term that is often not talked about in relation to IDP’s, as there is a big focus on people in “refugee-like” situations fleeing from their country of origin. This I argue is one of the many failures of the international refugee regime and the UN Refugee Agency. IDP’s live in and often share camps with refugees under the same conditions and often facing the same problems but yet have no legal recognition within the international system.
The Role of the Refugee Agency
So what exactly is the role of the UN Refugee Agency when it comes to Internally Displaced People?. Under international refugee law, IDP’s cannot be classed as refugees because they do not fit under the UN Refugee Convention definition of refugee but instead live in a “refugee-like” situation.
The UN Refugee Agencies mandate, which is its legal basis for its activities and existence, primarily covers refugees under the definition of the 1951 convention. The primary source of the organisations mandate was a statute adopted under resolution 428 (V) that states that the High Commissioner for Refugees alongside the Refugee Agency will assume the function of providing international protection to refugees who fall under the scope of the statute. The statute goes on to further develop this scope by stating the statute includes not only refugees but also stateless persons, asylum seekers and returnees. There is no exclusive mandate for IDP’s and the General Assembly has only authorised the agency to be involved with IDP’s in “specific conditions”
This here is a major failure of the agency and is clearly constrained in helping people who live in refugee-like situations by the general assembly and bureaucratic processes.
How can we strengthen the rights of IDP’s? – Case Study – The Kampala Convention, establishing legal protections
As I have argued already in this blog, Internally Displaced People are some of the most vulnerable people in society who are severely overlooked and often forgotten about by the international community when talking about forced displacement. So what can be done to strengthen and enhance the rights of IDP’s? Personally I believe we need a proper IDP regime not just made up of socially constructed norms but also one made with legal protections for these people. As already pointed out, there is no International treatment or any sort of legal document that governs the issues of IDP’s, but that does not mean there isn’t something like it that exists in the world.
This is where I would like to introduce the Kampala Convention or to give it its long name – the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa. The continent of Africa for many decades has had a serious problem with internal displacement due to conflict, violence, persecution and large scale developments. According to the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies, around 75% of all forced displacement in Africa are internally displaced people.
One of the most interesting things about the convention is that it takes into account displacement caused by large scale developments on the continent. This is very important as it helps in our general understanding of displacement, taking into account that displacement is not just caused by fear of persecution or conflicts but also large scale developments by other state actors or private organisations. Some examples of this is dam building, natural resource extraction and agricultural investment to name a few.
The issue of forced displacement in Africa has been extremely complex for sometime, so it is right that the continent has a working convention for the governance of IDP’s. Maru (2011) highlights some of the reasons why a separate convention was needed for IDP’s. According to Maru, health problems kill more IDP’s than actual conflicts do because of the living conditions that they are forced into and lack of humanitarian assistance that is often given to them. Maru also makes the case that internal displacement also negates the most fundamental human rights.
So what exactly does the convention do? Well first of all it creates a legal framework on the governance of IDP’s. It places legal obligations upon states to prevent internal displacement but also to protect and give humanitarian assistance to IDP’s. The convention also recognises the importance of other groups and therefore provides a role for international organisations and humanitarian agencies. It also binds the African Union itself to make sure that such organisations are assisting legally and in accordance with the convention.
As you can see, Kampala Convention fills a much needed legal gap that turns the UN’s Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement into a set of legal obligations for not just states but also other international organisations and humanitarian organisations.
What do I aim to find out and the questions I will ask
As someone who will begin a PhD after the ICC course, specialising in the area of forced migration and how international organisations such as the EU have treated refugees from Syria and Ukraine, this will be a perfect opportunity for me to get first hand experience of the operations of many international organisations that I would be studying during my research. I will also use this as an opportunity to network with people in the field in order to help my future research in the area of forced migration studies. These networks that I would look to build would help in gathering perspectives of practitioners in the field and any potential internship opportunities that could be undertaken during my studies or knowledge exchange opportunities. Taking advantage of this opportunity will help give myself a solid foundation in which to start my PhD studies and begin to break through in the field of forced migration.
During this expert meeting I am interested in learning how the UN Refugee Agency is adapting to modern day migration movements and challenges. For example, the effects of climate change and how this is forcing people to become displaced. I am particularly interested in the Refugee Agency’s view on wether or not the Refugee convention is for for purpose in the 21st century considering the reasons for forced displacement are arguably different compared to 1951 when the convention was first written. As my PhD will be comparing the treatment of Syrian and Ukrainian refugees bu the European Union I will be interested to hear practitioners view on this and wether or not they believe the 1951 Refugee Convention has been applied inconsistently by the EU and its member states.
Potential Questions to be asked
- Do you think the UN Refugee Agency could play a bigger role in the issue of IDP’s and if so how?
- Considering modern day challenges to migration movements, is the guiding principles on Internally Displaced People in need of review to look at how things such as climate change affect IDP’s?
- Does the Refugee Agency believe the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement is an effective enough framework for dealing with the issues of IDP’s?
- Do you think the international community needs to relook at how we tackle the issues of forced displacement to take into account new contemporary challenges?
Concluding Remarks
The UN Refugee Agency is a well needed organisation within the international system, especially today as we some large scale migration movements due to violence, conflict and even because of the effects of climate change. However, when it comes to the issue of Internally Displaced People, the international refugee regime fails to protect those who live under some of the same conditions as refugees, yet are often left out of the discussion when it comes to forced migration. Because of outdated mandates and bureaucratic processes, IDP’s will continue being left out of the discussion. It is time now in the 21st century as we wrestle with new reasons as to why people are forced to migrate, that we create a discussion on how the international community can better include this who are often forgotten about – Internally Displaced People.
Blog by Jamie McDiarmid – 2717656
WORD COUNT: 2,052
Bibliography and further reading
Africa Centre for Strategic Studies Record 36 Million Africans Forcibly Displaced. Available: https://africacenter.org/spotlight/record-36-million-africans-forcibly-displaced-is-44-percent-of-global-total-refugees-asylum/ [Accessed: 15 March 2023].
African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa 2009, Convention.
Bilak, A. and Desai, B. (2022) Global Report on Internal Displacement 2022. IDMC. Available: https://www.internal-displacement.org/global-report/grid2022/ [Accessed: 15 March 2023].
Dieng, A. (2017) Protecting internally displaced persons: The value of the Kampala Convention as a regional example. International Review of the Red Cross (2005), 99 (904), pp. 263-282.
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (2022) The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. Available: https://www.internal-displacement.org/internal-displacement/guiding-principles-on-internal-displacement .
Maru, M. (2011) The Kampala Convention and it’s contribution in filling the protection gap in international law. Journal of Internal Displacement, 1 (1), pp. 91-130.
UNHCR (2023) Global Trends. Available: https://www.unhcr.org/uk/globaltrends.html [Accessed: 15 March 2023].