IRIN Web Special on Internal Displacement

Introduction

While the number of refugees internationally has in recent years been falling, the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) has been growing significantly. In a survey published in September 2002 the Norwegian Refugee Council supported Global IDP Project estimated there to be at least 25 million IDPs due to conflict, while as of January 2002 the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, estimated there to be 12 million refugees.

Although in Africa there have been a number of recent wars between states, most conflicts have been internal, and this in part accounts for the large number of IDPs. The prevalence of unstable states, underdevelopment, weak civil societies, social marginalisation and the lack of accountable governments explain the social and political strife that has produced a disproportionate number of IDPs in Africa. Significant numbers of people, however, are also displaced by natural disasters and large-scale development projects.

Moreover, while the UN, through the UNHCR, has always assumed a major role in helping those who have had to flee their countries of origin because of persecution, the international community has had to give increasing attention to IDPs. The countries with the largest number of IDPs - Sudan, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) - have all suffered from protracted civil wars, and others - such as Somalia, Afghanistan, Liberia, and Sierra Leone - not only experienced domestic conflict but have also suffered the collapse of government institutions and services.

To confront these weaknesses, make clear the legal framework for protection of IDPs, and to empower the people involved, the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement were launched by the UN in 1998. Compiled by a team of international legal experts led by the noted Sudanese scholar, Dr Francis Deng, the Guiding Principles (GPs) represent the first international standard for IDPs. They are rapidly assuming centre stage in any consideration of IDPs, but they are relatively new, often not fully understood, and their implications are still being worked out.

However, even with the increased attention to the plight of IDPs, the UN Inter-Agency Standing Committee reported in March 2001 that the needs of displaced populations "continue to be inadequately addressed". The report attributed this to two broad factors: first, the unwillingness or inability of governments to address the needs of the displaced, and second, "serious gaps" in the UN's response on IDPs.

Guiding Principles and national sovereignty

In 1999 at the 54th session of the General Assembly, Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged UN member states to put aside their "most jealously guarded powers - sovereignty and the sanctity of national borders - in the higher interest of protecting and assisting civilians caught in the crossfire of war".

Analyst John Young argues that national sovereignty does not have the same sanctity in international relations as it did at the height of the Cold War. Nonetheless, while few have questioned any of the Guiding Principles, during debates in the UN General Assembly a number of diplomats noted reservations about whether collectively they may serve to undermine broader concerns about sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Speaking in 1999 when he was chair of the Organisation of African Unity, the president of Algeria, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, said: "We do not deny that the United Nations has the right and duty to help suffering humanity. But we remain extremely sensitive to any undermining of our sovereignty, not only because sovereignty is our last defence against an unequal world but also because we are not taking part in the decision-making process of the Security Council."

Young makes the point that the counterpart to these concerns is the extent to which the UN has the capacity to protect IDPs in the face of states strong enough to stand up to the international community.

He says: "Also often ignored by the international community has been the forcible removal of ethnic communities. While there was a rigorous international response to abuses of civilians in the former Yugoslavia, such response was not forthcoming until after years of ill-treatment, and there was virtually no response when ethnic cleansing was carried out during the Ethio-Eritrean war and in the DRC."

As Bill Frelick of the US Committee for Refugees has argued, "protecting internally displaced people may demand a more vigorous response than humanitarian agencies can provide. If international political powers are called upon to intervene to protect the lives of the displaced against the wishes of a controlling government, there needs to be a firm consensus."

Young believes that non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries is the basis of sound international relations, and will not be readily challenged. Ultimately, he says, there is no ready resolution to this conundrum, and it is one that the international community will have to confront on a case-by-case basis, and for many years to come.

PART II