Content deleted Content added
changing redirect from refugee to displaced person |
new article - Hooray! |
||
Line 1:
An '''internally displaced person''' (IDP) is someone who has been forced to leave their home for reasons such as religious or political persecution or war, but has not crossed an international border. The term is a subset of the more general [[displaced person]]. There is no legal definition of IDP, as there is for [[refugee]], but the thumbnail rule is that if the person in question would be eligible for [[refugee law|refugee status]] if he or she crossed an international border then the IDP label is applicable.
There are currently nearly 20 million IDPs worldwide, roughly twice the total number of [[refugee]]s. Internally displaced persons do not have a specific international legal instruments that applies to them, as do [[refugees]], because any attempt by an outside figure to tell a nation on how that nation should treat its own citizens has been seen as a violation of the principle of [[national sovereignty]]. This principle has come under pressure in recent years by those who feel a moral imperative to stop gross abuse of citizens by their governments. The most notable recent example was the use by the United States of mistreatment by the Iraqi government of its own population as a secondary excuse for the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]].
The [[United Nations]] recently agreed on non-binding Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement based on the refugee instruments. Nevertheless, there is no dedicated UN agency to deal with IDPs. This has led the [[United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees]] to act as ''ad hoc'' lead on IDP matters. As a result, it has been criticized for treating IDPs as less important adjuncts to their core mission to assist [[refugee]]s.
==Countries with Significant IDP Populations==
* [[Colombia]] due to the war between the government, [[FARC]], the [[Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia|AUC]] and other armed groups
* The [[Democratic Republic of Congo]] due to ongoing [[Congo Civil War|civil war]]
* [[Iraq]] due to political persecution and civil conflict under [[Saddam Hussein]] and the [[History of Iraqi insurgency|current instability]]
* [[Sudan]] due to civil conflicts in the [[Second Sudanese Civil War|South]] and [[Darfur conflict|Darfur in the west]]
* [[Uganda]] due to the insurgency of the [[Lord's Resistance Army]]
==External Links==
* [http://www.reliefweb.int/ocha_ol/pub/idp_gp/idp.html The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacemeent]
* [http://www.brook.edu/fp/projects/idp/idp.htm The IDP Project jointly run by the Brookings Institution and the JHU School of Advanced International Studies]
{{msg:stub}}
| |||