The plight of civilians takes on particular importance when gaps in the protection system emerge, as they frequently do in times of armed conflict.

In addition to addressing the generalised protection of civilians and other noncombatants in armed conflict, humanitarian agencies also address as particular protection concerns the situations of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs); children, who are guaranteed special attention in international law; women and girls, who mostly experience armed conflict as civilians, and are often exposed to acts of violence, including rape and other forms of sexual violence; and missing persons.

Internally Displaced Persons

Some 20 to 25 million people spread over 47 countries are displaced by violence and persecution but remain within the borders of their own countries. Many suffer from inadequate provision for needs other than emergency food, water and shelter, particularly in terms of protection and living with dignity.

There are specific IHL provisions addressing the problem of forced displacement, a serious humanitarian problem in many conflict and post-conflict situations, where ethnic, religious, political groups and/or minority groups are forced from their homes by violent actions or the threat thereof.

The Geneva Conventions and additional protocols specifically prohibit the forcible movement of civilians, while international human rights law on the freedom of movement implies a right to remain, to leave and to return, which may not be subjected to restrictions based on discrimination due to race, sex, language or religion.

In addition, there are human rights prohibitions on the arbitrary separation of children from their parents and on "widespread or systematic deportation or forced transfer of population", which is a crime against humanity under the states party to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Regional human rights instruments provide a complementary and additional buffer – with African, European and American charters prohibiting expulsion of individuals and mass expulsion targeting national, racial, ethnic or religious groups.

The primary responsibility for protecting and assisting IDPs rests with the states in which the displacement occurs, but the scope and complexity of internal displacement – especially when it is sometimes caused by those very governments whose responsibility it is to protect their civilians - is now demanding the attention and concerted action of a wide range of humanitarian, development and political actors.

The representative of the UN secretary-general on IDPS, Francis Deng, focuses on developing the appropriate international frameworks for the protection and assistance of IDPs.

After a comprehensive study of existing laws and mechanisms for the protection of IDPs, he prepared the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement in 1998, which have become the framework of policy and programme for state and humanitarian actions in this area.

He also monitors internal displacement by undertaking country missions, establishing dialogue with governments and collaborating with intergovernmental, regional, and nongovernmental organisations.
[for details, see: http://193.194.138.190/html/menu2/7/b/midp.htm]

A core group of UN agencies and humanitarian partners with protection expertise and field experience have also joined in a "Protection Coalition" in support of the IDP Protection Unit established within the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. This unit concentrates primarily on IDP issues related to countries where conflict-induced displacement is most acute and ongoing.

That coalition has been mainly devised as a platform for analysing specific protection problems identified by humanitarian partners in the field and finding practical solutions.
Meanwhile, the IDP Protection Unit has launched a major initiative (beginning with research to improve the level of understanding on the protection challenges in the field), known as the protection survey, which is intended to serve as an advocacy platform for discussion on how to further improve the level of protection for IDPs. [see: www.reliefweb.int/idp/priority/protect.htm]

Although it does not have a specific mandate for IDPs, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) assists several million displaced people in various crises, but not all the 20 million to 25 million IDPs worldwide.

These operations are initiated at the request of the UN Secretary-General or the General Assembly, with the consent of the country involved, and have included recent crises in the Middle East, the Balkans, Africa and Afghanistan.

The situation of IDPs globally particularly demands more engagement from diplomatic actors and the humanitarian community with government and non-state armed forces - with a view to preserving the rights of the displaced to seek asylum, replacing lost personal documentation and setting up camps to prevent attack, according to the NGO Refugees International.

It has also recommended greater donor engagement and advocacy on the protection of civilians, along with "a bolder approach" to challenging governments on protection issues.

In addition, it has called for the provision of additional resources to address protection concerns; an increase in field presence and protection coverage; incorporation of protection issues into assistance and development programmes; formation of country-level protection working groups; and specific attention to internal displacement in annual human-rights reports on countries.

NGOs and humanitarian actors have also emphasised the urgent need to operationalise the Guiding Principles through training, mainstreaming and assistance programmes, and also to address the legal status of the Guiding Principles – which currently have considerable status and support that is not underpinned by suitable legal measures.

Refugees

The UNHCR is mandated to lead and coordinate international action to protect refugees and safeguard their rights and welfare. It strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another state, with the option of returning home voluntarily, integrating locally or resettling in a third country, as appropriate. [www.unhcr.ch]

Today, the agency is endeavouring to help an estimated 19.8 million refugees in more than 120 countries. A refugee has the right to safe asylum, but also to basic rights (including freedom of thought, of movement and freedom from torture and degrading treatment) and assistance (shelter, food, health care, education), which the agency sometimes struggles to provide in the face of difficult circumstances, government intransigence, funding difficulties or a myriad other reasons.

Some of those difficulties were illustrated just last week in Liberia, West Africa, when a UNHCR transit camp came under fire amid resurgent rebel fighting in the east of the country, humanitarian staff had to be relocated due to insecurity and the agency lost touch with some 5,000 refugees, mostly Ivorian, amid fears they may have been caught up in the attack. [see: www.irinnews.org]

Guided by the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, its 1967 Protocol and principles of international refugee law, UNHCR offers its protection and assistance to refugees and others (stateless people or IDPs) on the basis of need - irrespective of race, religion, political opinion or gender - except in so far as it pays particular attention to the needs of children and seeks to promote the equal rights of women and girls. [see UNHCR’s Agenda for Protection]

The agency’s main role in pursuing international protection, it says, is "to ensure that states are aware of, and act on, their obligations to protect refugees and persons seeking asylum".

The 1951 Geneva Convention, the main international instrument of refugee law, does not specifically address the issue of civilians fleeing conflict, yet many of the major refugee movements in recent years have resulted from civil wars and ethnic, tribal and religious violence.

Some countries, particularly in Western Europe, argue that civilians fleeing generalised war or who fear persecution by nongovernmental groups, such as militias and rebels, should not be given formal refugee status, according to UNHCR.

The refugee agency’s view is that "the origin of the persecution should not be decisive in determining refugee status, but rather whether a person deserves international protection because it is not available in the country of origin".

Those who have participated in war crimes or violations of humanitarian and human rights law are specifically excluded from the protection accorded to refugees, but it is difficult to separate such people – often military or quasi-military elements – when they attach themselves to civilian groups, especially in large refugee movements or refugee camps.

The most viable solution, according to UNHCR, is to provide support initiatives, such as the international criminal tribunals, to end impunity and bring such people to justice.

As well as giving fleeing civilians emergency food, shelter and other material assistance as a first step to protection and rehabilitation, UNHCR tries to work with governments and other organisations on subjects ranging from promoting asylum systems to refugee advocacy, in order to promote the legal protection of refugees and durable solutions.