VOICES OF THE INTERNALLY DISPLACED IN SOUTH ASIA

We thank the members of the Brookings team working on the IDP. About six percent of the respondents were displaced due to natural disasters and about 2 percent due to development projects. The vast majority (63 percent) of respondents indicated that there is no possibility of returning to their homes, while a good quarter (26 percent) of respondents indicated that there is still a possibility of returning to their homes.

These displaced people have taken refuge in the various slums of the city of Khulna. The discussion of the women's group took place in the village of Khagrachari in East Narankhaiya. It is to be hoped that the voices of the people will find a place in the new policy.

Some of the women displaced due to the Hirakud dam were also affected (not displaced) due to ITPS. In the 1980s the Assamese agitators targeted them and a decade later they became the targets of the Bodo militants.

The Invisible Population

Here is the meaning of the votes – the ethic of agency upon which politics can reconstruct. The voices of the displaced women after the construction of the Hirakud dam in the river. The report tells us about Kamala Bhua, about 65 years old, currently living in the camp village of Adhapara, who was displaced due to the construction of the Hirakud Dam.

People displaced there due to shrimp cultivation have taken shelter in the various slums of Khulna city. In this way most melted away amidst the great impoverished masses of the country. In the responses of the displaced in the CHT, the reason for displacement development projects emerges as a main cause.

On many of these features of the state of displacement, South Asia presents a general situation. More than two-fifths of respondents (41 percent) are unemployed, followed by domestic or agricultural labor, fishing, dairying (39 percent).

Bangladesh

Gender Status
Literacy Level
Marital Status
Family Members
Adult Members in Family
Number Children in Family
Current Occupation
Current Monthly Income
Displacement Reasons
Years in Displacement Situation
Directly journeyed from Original to Current Place
Single / Multiple Displacement
Material Support Available
Support Provider
Type of Support
Educational Support for Children
Do Children Work Anywhere?
Job Nature of Children
Health Condition of Family Members
Medical Assistance in Need
Recruitment of Children in Armed Forces
Support to Pregnant / Elderly
Major Concern of Pregnant / Elderly
Problems Faces in the Region
Restriction in Movement
Probability of Return
Agency Responsible For Return
Reasons For No Possibility of Return
Knowledge of Policy Mechanisms for IDPs
Nature of Policy Mechanisms
Knowledge of UN Guiding Principles
Source of Knowledge About Policy Mechanisms
Improvement in Condition Due to Policy Mechanisms
Any Suggestions To Agencies For IDPs Rehabilitation
Nature of Suggestions to Agencies

In all cases, people other than the respondents also participated in the discussion. People living in the Dighinala residential school building receive ration from the government. Since shrimp farming is mainly done in the coastal areas of Khulna, most of the developing IDPs were from this region.

This was done in the low lands along the banks of rivers before the implementation of the coastal embankment project in the 1950s. Later, the project caused stagnation in the lowlands, causing problems for growing crops. The first important thing that comes into focus is that many of them became IDPs in the first place due to river erosion.

Since the southern area of Khulna is included in the polder, the flow of water here is regulated by sluices. They hoped that one day new soil (char) might grow in the eroded area and they would get their land back. With this hope these people started living in the Kumkhali area of Paikgachi which was nearby.

These displaced people live in the suburbs, so they are able to send their children to the state primary school. The water supply and sanitation system, as mentioned earlier, is very inadequate in the slums. Internal displacement in the Chittagong Hill Tracts occurred during the armed conflict from the mid-1970s to 1997.

The violent conflict in the Chittagong Hill Tracts between the thirteen different ethnic groups and the Bengalis of the plains has been the main cause of one of the largest cases of internal displacement in Bangladesh. Discussions of the women's group took place in the village of Khagrachari in East Narankhaiya. The movement of the indigenous mountain people to establish their identity and rights and the repression by the military have created an unstable situation in the CHT.

Nepal

Gender Status
Literacy Level
Marital Status
Family Members
Children in Family
Support Provider
Type of Support

More than three-quarters of the respondents stated that their health condition was very bad due to the lack of affordable health care facilities within their reach. The vast majority of respondents (62 percent) relied on government hospitals and health centers for their medical treatment. Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of respondents were displaced because of their political party affiliation – Maoists threatened and took political party cadres hostage, etc.

About six percent of the respondents were displaced due to natural disasters and about 2 percent were displaced due to development projects. Almost two-thirds of the respondents (66 percent) came directly from the place of origin and more than one-third (34 percent) underwent multiple displacements. If we analyze according to the number of answers, the highest percentage of the respondents (29 percent) got support for their shelter, followed by food support (26 percent), economic support (22 percent), educational support (11 percent). percent) and health support (10 percent).

The lowest percentage of respondents (1 percent) received support related to repatriation, followed by psychological support (2 percent). More than a quarter of respondents stated that they were often forced to recruit their children into the armed forces. Knowledge of the UN Guiding Principles on Internally Displaced Persons was found among 24 percent of respondents.

More than a third (35 percent) of the respondents stated that they have problems moving from one place to another in their area of residence. According to the result presented in Table 33, most of the respondents had more than one proposal. In addition, locals were not ready to offer employment to some IDPs due to ideological differences.

One of the most shocking aspects, they said, was the lack of educational opportunities for their children due to their poor economic conditions. They pointed out that security is one of the comparative advantages of staying in the camp. Some parents strongly opposed the Maoists' proposal to recruit their children into the rebel "people's army".

Sri Lanka

Household Head
Gender Status
Literacy Level
Marital Status
Family Members
No. of Children in Family
Support Provider
Type of Support

Most of the adult IDPs interviewed were in the domestic or agricultural sector and about 34 percent of the families earned less than Rs 1,000 per month. One positive point for Sri Lankan IDPs is that more than 90 percent of those interviewed received some form of support from either the government or other institutions. The government was the only support mechanism for 35.9 percent of respondents, and 49.5 percent reported that they received support from several sources.

But when asked about the probability of return, 57.3 percent reported that they saw no chance of returning to their original place of residence. When asked if IDPs had any recommendations for international agencies, 14.6 percent responded that more care should be taken in providing social and economic assistance, 11.7 percent said that these agencies should take care of their security needs and 41.7 percent gave multiple answers. In this discussion there were several families who had lost one of their family members in the disaster.

This village was also badly affected by the armed conflict between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) and security forces of the government of Sri Lanka. There was no proper mechanism to look after the psychosocial well-being of the children of the war zones. On the day of the Tsunami, women and children did their morning chores at home when the grown men went out to work.

The power supply was completely cut off because most of the electric poles were completely damaged by the tidal waves. In the IDP camps, women and children had to face many problems because they are vulnerable. In the words of one man: “Most of the people came with only the clothes they were wearing.

When asked about the problems they face, one IDP woman replied, “Most of the people do not have a birth certificate and identity card.

India

Gender Status

Literacy Level

Marital Status

Family Members

Adult Members in Family

Children in Family

Current Occupation

Current Monthly Income

Displacement Reasons

Years in Displacement Situation

Directly journeyed from Original to Current Place

Single / Multiple Displacement

Material Support Available

Support Provider

Type of Support

Educational Support for Children

Do Children Work Anywhere?

Job Nature of Children

Health Condition of Family Members

Medical Assistance in Need

Recruitment of Children in Armed Forces

Support to Pregnant / Elderly

Major Concern of Pregnant / Elderly

Problems Faces in the Region

Restriction in Movement

Probability of Return

Agency Responsible For Return

Reasons For No Possibility of Return

Knowledge of Policy Mechanisms for IDPs

Nature of Policy Mechanisms

Knowledge of UN Guiding Principles

Source of Knowledge About Policy Mechanisms

Improvement in Condition Due to Policy Mechanisms

Any Suggestions To Agencies For IDPs Rehabilitation

Nature of Suggestions to Agencies

Some More Statistical Highlights

Does Gender Matter?

Knowledge of Policy Mechanisms

What are the Factors Influencing the Feelings of the IDP’s on the Probability of their Return?

Causes of Displacement as a Factor
Duration of Displacement as a Factor
Direct or Indirect Journey from the Habitual Place to Current Place as a Factor

Is Literacy Important?

Problems Faced in the Region by the IDP’s
Knowledge of Policy Mechanisms

Does the Causes of Displacement have an Impact on Other Factors in the IDP Life?

Duration of Displacement
Major Concerns
Feelings about Probability for Return

What are the factors that influence the feelings of internally displaced persons on the likelihood of their return. Illiterate Can only read Read and write both Educated to elementary school To high school Above school level. Illiterate Can only read Read and write both Educated to elementary school To high school Above school level No comment.

Do the causes of displacement have an impact on other factors in the lives of IDPs?

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