Without an adequate legal framework at the domestic level (Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement 2008;
IDMC/NRC/Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement 2013) it is not possible for countries to live up to their responsibility to protect and assist IDPs. Experience shows that sectoral laws addressing issues such as security, health, education, housing, political rights, and other issues relevant for IDPs often fail to address the specific needs of IDPs.
Many countries also lack the necessary institutional set-up to adequately respond to the challenges of internal displacement.
Today, more than 20 countries affected by internal displacement have enacted laws or strategies and policies specifically addressing IDPs. These domestic instruments take rather different forms (Wyndham 2006: 8; Gouda 2009: 134), ranging from short declarations with a simple reference to the Guiding Principles and their domestic application (Burundi, Liberia), to rather detailed policies and strategies that, however, are limited to a specific cause or stage of displacement (Uganda, Georgia, Nepal, Sudan, Iraq), to IDP specific laws covering all phases of displacement (Kenya).
(p. 172) Regardless of the form and scope of domestic instruments it is important that they not only address the rights of IDPs but also the issue of institutional responsibilities and the allocation of resources. Protection of and assistance for IDPs is, as experience shows, seriously hampered if responsibilities are not clearly demarcated between different state institutions or if those responsible are not provided with the necessary powers and resources.
Assisting Internally Displaced Persons: The Operational Level
At the operational level, implementation of the rights of IDPs as codified in the Guiding Principles on Internal
Displacement first and foremost happens with national or local authorities and humanitarian actors undertaking protection activities, that is ‘activities aimed at obtaining full respect for the rights of the individual in accordance with the letter and the spirit of the relevant bodies of law’.
While understanding of what this exactly means in practice, and how priorities should be determined, differs widely among
11
12
13
14
Internal Displacement
agencies and other stakeholders (Ferris 2011: 270–85), protection activities are numerous and many different types can be observed in the field: they range from activities directly protecting people (such as evacuation from danger zones, lighting of water points and sanitation areas in camps and collective centres to prevent instances of gender-based violence, or the provision of legal aid to victims of human rights violations) to monitoring activities, advocacy with relevant stakeholders, and support for law-making or capacity building (Global Protection Cluster Working Group 2010).
Much of this work is undertaken by UN humanitarian agencies and their non-governmental partners. They join forces within the framework of what is called the ‘Cluster Approach’ (Bijleveld 2006), an arrangement set up by the UN to facilitate the coordination among organizations in humanitarian emergencies (see Russell and Tennant, this volume). Each cluster has a designated lead agency at the global and national levels. The lead agency is tasked with bringing relevant actors together in order to improve the overall humanitarian response through enhanced predictability, timeliness, and effectiveness. If no other organization is able to act it also has, subject to limits of access, security, and funding, to step in as a ‘provider of last resort’ to avoid gaps in the response (UNHCR 2012: 127). However, an evaluation in 2010 (Steets et al. 2010: 8–10) concluded that the Cluster Approach helped to better identify gaps in humanitarian assistance, reduce duplications, and thus improve coordination while cluster management and facilitation remained poor in many cases due to a lack of trained coordinators and coordination between clusters remained ineffective. The study criticized that ‘clusters largely exclude national and local actors and often fail to link with, build on, or support existing coordination and response mechanisms’ and thus have ‘in several cases weakened national and local ownership and capacities’. Thus, despite several achievements, it is clear more efforts are needed to improve humanitarian action through improved coordination and ensure IDP protection can be delivered, not only as a legal framework but also in practice.
References
Abebe, A. M. (2009) ‘Legal and Institutional Dimensions of Protecting and Assisting Internally Displaced Persons in Africa’. Journal of Refugee Studies 22(2): 155–76.
Arango Rivadeneira, R. (ed.) (2009) Judicial Protection of Internally Displaced Persons: The Colombian Experience.
Washington, DC: Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement.
Bagshaw, S. (2005) Developing a Normative Framework for the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons. Ardsley, NY:
Transnational Publishers.
Bakewell, O. (2011) ‘Conceptualizing Displacement and Migration: Processes, Conditions, and Categories’. Pp. 14–28 in K. Koser and S. Martin (eds.), The Migration-Displacement Nexus: Patterns, Processes, and Policies. New York:
Berghahn Books.
Beyani, C., Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, Chaloka Beyani, UN Doc. A/HRC/19/54, 26 December 2011.
Bijleveld, A. W. (2006) ‘Towards More Predictable Humanitarian Responses: Inter-Agency Cluster Approach to IDPs’.
Refugee Survey Quarterly 25(4): 28–34.
Brookings–Bern Project on Internal Displacement (ed.) (2008) Protecting Internally Displaced Persons: A Manual for Law and Policymakers. Washington, DC: Brookings.
Brookings Institution (2005) Addressing Internal Displacement: A Framework for National Responsibility. Washington, DC: Brookings Institute.
Carrillo, A. C. (2009) ‘Internal Displacement in Colombia: Humanitarian, Economic and Social Consequences in Urban Settings and Current Challenges’. International Review of the Red Cross 91(875): 527–46.
Christensen, A., and Harild, N. (2009) Forced Displacement: The Development Challenge. Washington, DC: The World Bank Group.
Cohen, R. (2004) ‘The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement: An Innovation in International Standard Setting’.
Global Governance 10: 459–80.
Cohen, R. (2007) ‘Response to Hathaway’. Journal of Refugee Studies 20(3): 370–6.
Cohen, R., and Deng, F. M. (1998) Masses in Flight: The Global Crisis of Internal Displacement. Washington, DC:
Brookings Institution Press.
Collinson, S., Darcy, J., Waddell, N., et al. (2009) Realising Protection: The Uncertain Benefits of Civilian, Refugee and IDP Status. HPG Report 28. London: Overseas Development Institute.
Ferris E. (2011) The Politics of Protection: The Limits of Humanitarian Action. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
Fielden, A. (2008) Ignored Displaced Persons: The Plights of IDPs in Urban Areas. Geneva: UNHCR.
Global Protection Cluster Working Group (2010) Handbook for the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons. Geneva:
UNHCR.
Goldman, R. K. (2009) ‘Internal Displacement, the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, the Principles Normative Status, and the Need for their Effective Domestic Implementation in Colombia’. Anuario Colombiano de derecho internacional 2: 59–85.
Gouda, D. A. (2009). Internal Displacement Law and Policy: Analysis of International Norms and Domestic Jurisprudence. Lake Mary: Vandeplas Publishing.
Hathaway, J. (2007) ‘Forced Migration Studies: Could We Agree Just to “Date”?’ Journal of Refugee Studies 20(3): 349–
69.
Henckaerts, J. M., and Doswald-Beck, L. (2009) Customary International Law, vol. i: Rules (3rd edn.). Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
IASC (2010) ‘Framework on Durable Solutions for Internally Displaced Persons’. Washington, DC: The Brookings–Bern Project on Internal Displacement.
ICRC (2009) Internal Displacement in Armed Conflict: Facing up to the Challenges. Geneva: ICRC.
IDMC/NRC (2012), Internal Displacement Global: Overview of Trends and Developments in 2011. Geneva: Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.
IDMC/NRC (2013a), Internal Displacement Global: Overview of Trends and Developments in 2012. Geneva: Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.
IDMC/NRC (2013b) Global Estimates 2012: People Displaced by Natural Hazard-Induced Disasters. Geneva: Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.
IDMC/NRC/Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement (2013), National Instruments on Internal Displacement: A Guide to their Development. Geneva: Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.
Jacobsen, K. (2008) Internal Displacement to Urban Areas: The Tufts-IDMC Profiling Study. Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire:
Case 2. n.p.: Feinstein International Center/Tufts/NRC/IDMC.
Kälin, W. (2008) Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement: Annotations (2nd edn.). Washington, DC: The American Society of International Law.
Kälin, W. (2010) ‘Conceptualizing Climate-Induced Displacement’. Pp. 81–103 in J. McAdam (ed.), Climate Change &
Displacement: Multidisciplinary Perspectives. Oxford: Hart Publishing.
Kälin W. et al. (2010) Incorporating the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement into Domestic Law. Washington, DC: American Society of International Law.
Kidane, W. (2011) ‘Managing Forced Displacement by Law in Africa: The Role of the New African Union IDPs Convention’. Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law 44: 1–85.
McAdam, J. (ed.) (2010) Climate Change & Displacement: Multidisciplinary Perspectives. Oxford: Hart Publishing.
Internal Displacement
Maru, M. T. (2011) ‘The Kampala Convention and its Contribution in Filling the Protection Gap in International Law’.
Journal of Internal Displacement 1(1): 91–130.
Mooney, E. (2005) ‘The Concept of Internal Displacement and the Case for Internally Displaced Persons as a Category of Concern’. Refugee Survey Quarterly 24(3): 9–26.
Orchard, P. (2010) ‘Protection of Internally Displaced Persons: Soft Law as a Norm-Generating Mechanism’. Review of International Studies 36: 281–303.
Phuong, C. (2004) The International Protection of Internally Displaced Persons. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Schmidt, P. (2004) ‘The Process and Prospects for the U.N. Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement to Become International Customary Law: A Preliminary Assessment’. Georgetown Journal of International Law 35(3): 483–520.
Steets, J., Grü newald, F., Binder, A., de Geoffroy, V., Kauffmann, D., Krü ger, S., Meier C., and Sokpoh, B. (2010)
‘Cluster Approach Evaluation 2—Synthesis Report’. n.p.: u.r.d/GPPi.
UNHCR (2012) The State of the World’s Refugees: In Search of Solidarity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Weiss, T. G., and Korn, D. A. (2006) Internal Displacement: Conceptualization and its Consequences. London:
Routledge.
World Bank/UNHCR (2011) Research Study on IDPs in Urban Settings: Afghanistan. Kabul: The World Bank.
Wyndham, J. (2006) ‘A Developing Trend: Laws and Policies on Internal Displacement’. Human Rights Brief (American University) 14/1: 7–12.
Notes:
(1) . UN Doc. E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2, 11 February 1998, Introduction, para. 2.
(2) . See Statute of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Annex to UNGA res. 428(V), 14 Dec. 1950.
(3) . 2005 World Summit Outcome, A/RES/60/1, 24 October 2005, para. 132; General Assembly resolutions:
A/RES/62/153, para. 10; A/RES/64/162, para. 10; A/RES/66/165, para. 12. Human Rights Council resolutions:
A/HRC/RES/6/32, para. 5; A/HRC/RES/14/6, para. 9; A/HRC/RES/20/9, para. 1; A/HRC/RES/23/8, para. 12.
(4) . These reports can be accessed at <http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/IDPersons/Pages/Visits.aspx>.
(5) . Human Rights Commission resolution 1992/73.
(6) . E/CN.4/1996/52/Add.2, 5 December 1995, para. 411.
(7) . Human Rights Commission resolution 1996/52 of 19 April 1996, sixth preambular paragraph and paragraph 9.
(8) . See n. 3.
(9) . E.g. European Court of Human Rights, Case of Doğan and Others v Turkey, Applications nos. 8803–8811/02, 8813/02 and 8815–8819/02, Judgment of 29 June 2004, para. 154; Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Case of the
‘Mapiripán Massacre’ v Colombia, Judgment of 15 September 2005, para. 171.
(10) . Colombian Constitutional Court, Decision T-025 of 2004, in: Arango Rivadeneira 2009: 221.
(11) . Germany, Achter Bericht der Bundesregierung ü ber ihre Menschenrechtspolitik in den auswärtigen Beziehungen und in anderen Politikbereichen, Deutscher Bundestag 16. Wahlperiode, Drucksache 16/10037, 16 July 2008, 76. Iraq National Policy on Displacement, July 2008, section 5, para. 3.
(12) . E.g. Council of Europe, Recommendation Rec(2006)6 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on
internally displaced persons, 5 April 2006; Organization of American States, General Assembly resolution AG/RES. 2716 (XLII-O/12), 4 June 2012.
(13) . The text of national laws, policies, and strategies on internal displacement can be found at
<http://www.brookings.edu/projects/idp/Laws-and-Policies/idp policies index.aspx> (accessed 2 August 2012).
(14) . IASC, IDP Protection Policy 1999. The definition was originally adopted by a 1999 Workshop of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Protection.
Walter Kalin
Wa ter Kä in is Professor of Constitutiona and Internationa Pub ic Law, University Bern and Senior Fe ow at the Brookings LSE project on Interna Disp acement.