IRIN Web Special on Civilian Protection in Armed Conflict

Separation of Armed Elements

Conflict often results in the mixed movements of populations, from forced civilian displacements to armed elements seeking sanctuary in neighbouring districts or countries, and this can lead to dangers from the intermingling of civilians and combatants generally, as well as the movements of combatants into refugee or IDP camps, in particular.

The militarisation of refugee populations, and the need to separate armed elements from refugees and local host populations, is a particular concern for the protection of civilians, Kofi Annan told the UN Security Council in November - especially where refugee camps are located close to border areas and in close proximity to armed conflict.

This may involve the likes of armed groups infiltrating displaced populations, refugee camps or even settled civilian populations, forcing people to act for them - sometimes by fighting for them, sometimes by supplying or feeding them - or endangering them by their presence.

The presence of armed elements among displaced or a refugee population often has "specific and serious humanitarian consequences", especially for women and children who were especially vulnerable, according to Kofi Annan. These included rape, trafficking, forced recruitment, and other forms of physical and sexual abuse, he told the Security Council in November.

In northern Uganda, Sudanese refugees and local populations not only have to contend with numerous problems associated with living in a region wracked by armed conflict - which has ranged, over time, from internal to inter-state and transnational - but also have to live with the daily threat of attack.

Far from being located in a place of safety, these refugees and displaced people still carry most of the burden of a protracted series of armed insurrections and conflicts, perpetrated by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) of Joseph Kony.

More recently, observers say, they are also bearing the brunt of the military strategy - dubbed Operation Iron Fist - by which the Ugandan army, the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) aims to crush that LRA insurrection, and which has indirectly created the worst humanitarian situation the region has ever seen.

Despite the efforts of UNHCR and partner organisations, refugee camps are sometimes used as recruiting grounds, by armed groups tapping into disaffection with a government or state of affairs.

"I think, increasingly, humanitarian agencies have become conscious that probably the biggest protection issues are precisely those where a civilian population - and often a refugee population - is, in effect, being held to ransom by its own leadership," James Darcy told IRIN. "And that the protection action required is, for instance, demilitarisation of the refugee camp, without which free action - free of fear - on behalf of the civilian population is just impossible."

Refugees - and IDPs - are sometimes intimidated, abused, violated or even killed as a result of the breakdown of social systems, and the easy resort to violent means, in situations of conflict.

In such cases, a protection agenda may include education and training, self-protection and particular focus on especially vulnerable (such as unaccompanied or separated children) to the location, design and layout of refugee or IDP camps, human rights training or promotion of food security and income generation possibilities (to reduce individuals' vulnerability).

Funding is a major problem in conflict and post-conflict situations, with the resources available often inadequate to provide for basic food, water and shelter needs - not to mind broader protection issues, which have not always been an integral part of humanitarian interventions.

Refugee protection

The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has developed a wide-ranging Agenda for Protection aimed at preserving the humanitarian character of asylum as well as the physical safety of refugees.

It emphasises the primary responsibility of refugee-hosting states to ensure asylum retains its humanitarian character, calls for disarmament of armed elements and covers the identification, separation and internment of combatants. However, the reality is not nearly so neat.

Liberian refugees in Cote d'Ivoire, which has been wracked by civil strife in recent months, fear for their lives. They say they are harassed. Some of them have been killed. For about 35,000 who still remain in the country, life has become increasingly difficult, according to a recent IRIN Interview with the Acting Representative of UNHCR for Cote d'Ivoire, Panos Moumtzis.

Local populations in Tabou received information from fellow citizens in Grabo that Liberians had been involved in looting, killings and violations of the human rights of Ivorians, he said. As a result, they felt the traditional hospitality that had existed for Liberians for many years could no longer continue.

UNHCR in collaboration with local authorities and the government has tried to counter this sentiment, trying to tell people that these were refugees who had not participated in atrocities or crimes. The situation calmed down a bit.

But in Guiglo, western Cote d'Ivoire, Liberian refugees are really worried and afraid because Nicla refugee camp, with a population of up to 8,000, is close to the frontline, he added.

Meanwhile, recent research in the DRC has suggested that the influx of refugees into the country was one factor, among others, that "strongly caused the proliferation of light weapons", which are the main cause of civilian death in the continuing conflict.

Northeastern DRC has been a sanctuary for people fleeing earlier or ongoing wars in Rwanda, Sudan and Uganda, according to the report from three Kinshasa-based researchers commissioned by the NGO Pax Christi/ Netherlands.

"These refugees came into DRC with their [concealed] weapons and started to resell them so as to survive - and they launched out in this illicit traffic of light weapons either as salesmen, brokers or traders," they said in the report, titled "Proliferation and Illicit Traffic of Small Arms and Light Weapons in the Northeast of the DRC." [Click here for the IRIN story]

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has recommended to the Security Council, among other measures:

• Encouraging greater commitment by governments to remove refugee and IDP camps from border areas, and to separate combatants from civilians;
• Support of the capacity of law in states hosting refugees in order to secure refugee and IDP situations fairly and calmly;
• Promotion of the Security Council's aide memoire on civilian protection by governments where combatants and civilians are intermingled, in order to assure that responses to security threats meet international standards.

Continued?