A Global Issue for a Global Community
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The internally displaced person (IDPs) situation in Burma is only part of a wider global displacement crisis affecting nearly 25 million people1. IDPs according to the United Nations are “persons who, as a result of persecution, armed conflict or violence, have been force to abandon their homes and leave their usual place of residence and who remain within the borders of their own country”. Their access to social networks that can assist them are very limited, if they exists at all. Consequently IDPs are among the world’s most vulnerable populations.
 IDPs
are among the world's most vulnerable population
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The global number of IDPs has risen sharply from 1.2 million in 1982 to nearly 25 million2. These 25 million IDPs are displaced in at least 49 countries, with more than half in Africa. Burma’s IDP population is among the ten largest groups of displaced people in the world.
While the global IDP figures have grown, the number of refugees has decreased from 17.8 million in 1992 to 9.2 million in 20043. Currently IDPs outnumber refugees by more than two to one. One aspect that has lead to this change is the increased difficulty in crossing an international border. Neighbouring countries are unwilling to accept mass, or even small, exoduses, of people, due to the issues related to refugees, in particular prolonged refugee situations, and the associated financial burden. Furthermore, countries are concerned about internal conflicts overflowing onto their soil and the possibility of anti-government groups using “safe havens” (such as refugee camps) to launch their resistance movements. Victims of displacement who try to cross an international border are seen as violent threats and burdens that must be contained – within their nation’s borders. Those that do manage to flee are often confined to isolated camps4. Despite this shift in humanitarian crises, IDPs continue to receive limited international attention.
More importantly, they receive little, if any, international protection. There are no legal instruments or institutions specifically designed to protect IDPs. While the Universal Declaration of Human Rights applies to everyone, refugees have added protection under the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol. The same obligation to protect and assist internally displaced persons does not exist.
In an attempt to counter this, the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement were developed as a framework for protecting IDPs in 1996. While these 30 guiding principles were presented to the Human Rights Commission in 1998, they have yet to be put forward to the United Nations General Assembly. Consequently, the principles have not been made into an international convention or presented to member States’ for ratification.
Some nations do follow these principles. However this is completely voluntary and there are no avenues for recourse should these principles be broken.
Worst Displacement Situation:
Burma
Colombia
Cote d'Ivoire
Democratic Republic of Congo
Indonesia
Iraq
Nepal
Russian Federation
Somalia
Sudan
Uganda
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Within the principles the rights of IDPs during all phases of displacement are emphasised and protection strategies are recommended. The guidelines also provide suggestions for protection against arbitrary displacement; protection and assistance while displaced and during the return, resettlement and reintegration of IDPs into communities5.
The principles also make very clear that it is the responsibility of the national authorities to ensure that the IDPs basic needs (food, water, sanitation, health and shelter) are met. As internal displaced persons have not crossed an international border, the responsibility of assisting these vulnerable people remains with their own governments.
Sadly displacement is often caused by State’s through conflict with non-state actors, development projects and persecution against their own people. According to the Internal Displacement: Global Overview of Trends and Developments in 2004, a report released by the Global IDP Project in 2005, at least 13 governments are actively involved in displacing people. Very few governments provide protection or assistance to their country’s displaced populations. Half of the world’s IDP population is completely unprotected, with governments failing to provide adequate humanitarian assistance to 18 million displaced persons. Five million IDPs receive no assistance at all.
However, over the last twelve months half the States with displaced populations have taken constructive steps to address their humanitarian needs. While the sentiments behind these efforts were genuine, these countries had limited resources at their disposal and their IDP populations were relatively small. Consequently such initiatives only benefited one quarter of the world’s IDP population.
While the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement emphasis the responsibility of the State, they also make provisions should the government be unable or unwilling to fulfill their obligation. In accordance to the principles, if this should happen it is up to members of the international community to step in. However, this is easier said than done. As it is often the State governments that cause displacement, they are usually unwilling to bring international attention onto the humanitarian crisis within their borders - including accepting or facilitating assistance. Some State’s, such as the Burmese junta, even deliberately prevent international organizations from accessing displaced people.
However, providing food, shelter and clothing to 25 million people is a huge undertaking. No single country has the resources on hand to tackle such a predicament. Consequently a coordinated approach between the United Nations, inter-government agencies, civil society and non-government organizations is required. According to Refugees International, a US-based group focusing on providing protection and assistance to displaced persons around the world, this is not happening. “No single UN or other international agency has responsibility for responding to internal displacement and, as a result, the global response to the needs of internally displaced persons is often ineffective.”6
Furthermore, it is vital to ensure that IDPs participate in developing and designing a durable solution to their situation. In many cases IDPs are silent victims with little, if any, opportunities to voice their concerns to authorities. This is especially true in countries that frequently deny political and civil liberties and human rights, including freedom of expression. Under such circumstances it is highly improbable that a partnership would be formed between the IDP population and the authorities to address protection and assistance issues. In the unlikely case that one was formed, it would not have the open forum necessary to fully address the issues – merely providing a band aid to a gunshot wound.
In countries that have some level of political freedoms, displaced populations are usually discriminated against and denied these rights, further distancing them from the processes and institutions that are necessary to finding a durable solution to the IDP situation.
However, while State governments, for the main part, are unwilling to engage displaced populations, non-government organizations and civil society are trying to do the opposite. Together with the IDPs they have been looking at imaginative ways for displaced populations to voice their concerns to the international community. They see the participation of IDPs as key to the development, introduction and monitoring of assistance programs. Some IDPs have become effective advocates for change at the national, regional and international levels.
Nonetheless, the predominant limiting factors to IDP-based movements, is their situation. Displaced people live a precarious existence, struggling for survival from one day to the next. Food scarcity is a huge issue and nearly 19 million IDPs around the world do not have access to clean drinking water or adequate sanitation7. Diseases and malnutrition are rife. Living in these circumstances it is usually beyond the displace people’s ability to come together and form a collective in order to present a unified voice. Sadly due to this lack of organization grassroots level advocacy groups often fail to make an impression.
Furthermore it is difficult for representatives of displaced populations to contact national authorities. Should these authorities attempt to develop strategies addressing the issue of displacement, IDPs could be excluded from participating in the process.
Internally displaced persons are not just victims of their circumstances or mere statistics. They are people who are resisting the destruction of their homeland, culture and way of life through non-violent means. On a day to day basis they show more strength, courage and determination than most people demonstrate in a life time. Civil society, non-government organizations, inter-government agencies and the United Nations need to increase their humanitarian assistance to IDPs: and focus the deliverance of this aid directly to displaced populations.
However this is not enough. A more coordinated approach is not only needed but is well overdue. The United Nations should take the initiative and increase the international recognition and compliance of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. This can be achieved by either re-introducing the principle as an international convention and having individual countries ratify them or via the General Assembly’s acceptance of the principles through a majority vote.
As a global society we are judged not by how we treat the fortunate, but rather how we protect the vulnerable. Our ambivalence must end - for each moment humanity fails, a life of endless promise is lost forever.
Endnotes:
- United Nations High Commission for Refugee, March 2006
- Stephen Castle, Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford University, December 2005
- Ibid
- Ibid
- Internal Displacement Monitoring Centr, March 2006
- Refugee International, March 2006
- Ibid
To go to the other
articles published in the March 2006 BI Newsletter click
on the links below:
Where is
Everything?
The Politics of Subsistence: IDP Coping Strategies as Non-Violent Resistance |
