UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement-Brief Verson

Refugee Survey Quarterly, 2005

In his report "In Larger Freedom" 1 , the UN Secretary-General, in March 2005 urged Member States to accept the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement 2 (hereinafter Guiding Principles) as "the basic international norm for protection" of internally displaced persons (hereinafter IDPs). Towards the end of July 2005, the Chairman of the UN General Assembly, after consultations with States, circulated a revised draft Declaration, based on this report, to be adopted by the Heads of State and Government gathered at the UN General Assembly 14 to 16 September 2005 to reaffi rm the United Nations Millennium Declaration. Under the heading "Internally Displaced Persons", the draft proposes to recognize the Guiding Principles as "the minimum international standard for the protection of internally displaced persons" 3. Some months earlier, the UN Human Rights Commission used less strong language when it called the Guiding Principles "an important tool for dealing with situations of internal displacement", welcomed "the fact that an increasing number of States, United Nations agencies and regional and non-governmental organizations are applying them as a standard", and encouraged "all relevant actors to make use of the Guiding Principles when dealing with situations of internal displacement" 4. Similar language can be found at the regional level. The Organization of African Unity (now the African Union) formally acknowledged the principles; the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) called on its member states to disseminate and apply them; and in the Horn of Africa, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), in a ministerial declaration, called the principles a "useful tool" in the development of national policies on internal displacement. In Europe, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) recognized that the principles as "a useful framework for the work of the OSCE" in dealing with internal displacement, and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe urged its member states to incorporate the principles into their domestic laws 5. What then are the Guiding Principles? The "international norm" for the protection of internally displaced persons, the "minimum international standard" or just an "important tool" or "useful framework" for actors helping them to address situations of displacement adequately? This article argues that they are, at the same time, the minimum international standard (1.) and a practical tool (2.) for the protection of the rights of IDPs, and examines what steps could be taken to strengthen these functions further (3).

2016

Current norms for the protection of internally displaced persons is richly influenced by principles entrenched in international humanitarian law as applicable to civilians and non-combatants who are not actively involved in the prosecution of wars. These principles though not specifically directed at this category of persons per se is no doubt of paramount importance to them being victims of armed violence occurring within the borders of their own country. This paper keenly examines legal implications of international humanitarian law rule applicable to non-international armed conflicts to situations of internal displacement with the view to identifying the extent to which the rules and principles can be applied to fan protection for internally displaced persons beyond the parameters set out in the standard setting norms on internal displacement. This conceptual discourse is significant as it contributes to the need to engage in more insightful thoughts on alternate ways of strengthening protection and assistance of internally displaced persons.

This research systematically reviews the international legal framework relevant to internal displacement and effectively demonstrates that the claims of its absence are incorrect and misleading. First basic legal characteristics relevant to internal displacement, its instalment in international law and its relation to some fundamental international legal principles are addressed. The subsequent review of applicable legal regimes and sources in combination with a substantial analysis of norms reveals that the majority of the IDP-protection provisions are well established in international human rights and humanitarian law. They are applicable to all forms of recognised (i.e. conflict-, disaster- and development-induced) internal displacement and they can, moreover, offer a legal basis for protection from and during new forms of internal displacement. But their implementation and enforcement in these situations is vague and categorically denied, which renders a far-reaching conclusion inapplicable to all categories of IDPs. Although it is impossible to assert that IDP-protection has attained customary nature in international law similar to that of refugee-protection, it is undisputable that many of the IDP-protection provisions are rooted in customary international law or draw heavily from it. Moreover, the examination of the practice of international governmental and non-governmental institutions dealing with IDPs at both the headquarters and field levels demonstrates that in situations of humanitarian emergencies IDPs are increasingly treated as a special operational category. This effectively contributes to their protection needs being met, but also adds to their de facto legal recognition through approved international practice. Whether such treatment will ever result in the explicit legally distinct recognition of IDPs is questionable, if not unlikely.

Jurnal Hukum dan Sosial Politik

Human rights protect individuals, groups, or property. The nation or state officials as part of the country have an international obligation to protect the community and their property, where international human rights standards are established and developed in various international forums. This study aims to provide a critical review of the Convention related to Human Rights which guarantees the right of everyone to be treated equally before the law regardless of race, color, origin, and ethnicity, which also forms the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to supervise its implementation. This qualitative research used a descriptive approach to collect data systematically, factually, and quickly in accordance with the description when conducting research. The results of this study showed that the principles of human rights guide law enforcement in prosecuting criminals. These principles emphasize the importance of supervision (including clarity in the chain of comma...

It is estimated that over 50 million people have been forced to leave their homes and move across the country because of conflict, violations of their human rights or natural disasters. These people are not considered to be refugees under the modern legal definition of the term. Instead, we speak of them as internally displaced persons (IDPs). As Kofi Annan in his capacity as Secretary-General of the United Nations once stated: “internal displacement is the great tragedy of our times. The internally displaced people are among the most vulnerable of the human family". The reason that they are amongst the most vulnerable is because they are away from home, often forgotten or neglected and fall between the cracks of both domestic and international protection. This essay will consist of three parts, the first of which will define the term internally displaced persons and explain the difference between IDPs and refugees. The second part will give an overview of how existing norms in humanitarian law, human rights law and refugee law form the foundation of the legal protection of IDPs. The third and final part of the essay will show how the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (Guiding Principles) build upon the existing legal framework. It will also critically analyze whether or not this normative framework adequately provides protection for the needs of the IDP.

2005

in Aurel Sari and Ramses A. Wessel (eds.), Human Rights in EU Crisis Management Operations: A Duty to Respect and to Protect?, Cleer Working Paper Series 2012/6, Asser Institute, pp. 21-37.

This paper focuses on the applicability of general international law principles and instruments to European Union (EU) peace missions (also known as crisis management operations). First, the paper shall address the legal framework applicable to EU peace missions, including general principles and instruments of international human rights and humanitarian law. Subsequently, the focus will shift to difficulties which arise in this regard, before providing some concluding remarks. Evidently, in view of the nature of peace missions, the most relevant general principles and instruments applicable are those pertaining to international human rights and international humanitarian law. Although not discussed here, general principles applying to internally displaced persons (IDPs) are also relevant.