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The Forgotten People

The Horn of Africa is one of the most complex and conflicted regions of the world. Each of the countries of the Horn—Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Sudan—suffers from protracted political strife, arising from local and national grievance, identity politics and regional inter-state rivalries. The ongoing crisis in Darfur, the rise of the Union of Islamic Courts in Somalia, internal political crises in Ethiopia and Eritrea and a host of active, latent and imminent conflicts in the Horn region made millions vulnerable to displacement.

The concerned governments, the international organizations and the United Nations Agencies, have been active in defining, addressing and reporting the plight of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in the Horn region. In a closer look, one can see the discrepancies on how each depending on their own interest; defines the nature and scope of the problem of displaced people. Often information on scope of the problem provided by the concerned governments on the one hand and the international organizations on the other are contradictory. It is not the interest of this article to map out some sort of strategy to set out information sharing mechanisms, but to argue -whatever the number may be, the IDPs are forgotten and protection is granted haphazardly.

The ongoing conflict in the region, arguably one of the most persistent — and neglected — humanitarian crises resulted in the targeted persecution and displacement of millions of civilians in the sub region. The spillover effects of the conflict and the growing refugee crisis in the region have received little attention from the international community. Currently, there were large number of IDPs in Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan, while they share a common experience, their experiences as displaced persons have differed depending on their location, their ethnic background, the interaction they have had with local and international organizations and their relationship with the local population and administration.

This past week, security problems made aid groups to pull out of IDP camps in Sudan and Somalia. Hundreds of thousands of desperate IDPs in Ethiopia and Somalia are already on the move to escape the draught season and are not even receiving the bare minimal assistance to allow them to survive. According to UN estimates, at least 2.4 million Somalis need help across Somalia. The situation in Al-Shabab-controlled areas is made worse by the absence of the UN’s main aid agency. In Sudan, the UNAMID-UN Mission in Darfur- peacekeepers have been prevented from entering the IDP camps by The Sudan Armed Forces, while the Government continues aerial bombardment of Darfurians, invoking security and International humanitarian concerns.

Unlike refugees, IDPs do not cross international borders. Although they have departed from their homes for different reasons, they have not left the country whose citizens they belong to. The 1998 Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (the Guiding Principles), describe internally displaced persons as persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of, or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border.

IDPs are entitled to enjoy the full range of human rights as well as those guarantees of international humanitarian law that are applicable to the citizens of that country in general. There is no specific international convention for the protection of their rights and that none of the innumerable provisions of international human rights, humanitarian, and refugee law treaties explicitly addresses their plight.

The four Geneva Conventions and two attendant protocols form the hub of International Humanitarian Law set out the entitlements of all civilians in conflict to be treated humanely in all circumstances. A raft of international conventions, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, state the rights to food, water, shelter and more besides of those affected by ‘natural disasters’. Along with the 1951 Refugee Conventions on the rights of refugees, these laws and conventions define the obligations of states and warring parties to provide humanitarian assistance, or allow it to be provided, to all those in need.

The 1998 Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (the Guiding Principles) provide an important framework for protection of IDPs. The Guiding Principle outlines that every human being has the right to dignity and physical, mental, and moral integrity. It point out that at the minimum, regardless of the circumstances, and without discrimination, competent authorities shall provide IDPs with and ensure safe access to: Essential food and potable water; Basic shelter and housing; Appropriate clothing; and essential medical services and sanitation.

In 2003, IGAD member states signed the Khartoum Declaration on Internal Displacement in the IGAD Sub-Region, making a breakthrough move to address the problem of displacement in the sub region. Member states recognizing that they are affected by the problems of internal displacement and that they agree to take primary responsibility for protecting and assisting IDPs, and committing themselves to developing and adopting a national IDP policy. Unfortunately, lack of leadership commitment, inter country coordination problems, limited access to resources and inconclusive peace and reconciliation processes between parties in conflict in member states create multiple challenges to address the plight of IDPS and those who return. Adding to the implementation challenge is the fact that the Declaration is considered by members to be legally non-binding.

The concept of protecting IDPs encompasses all activities aimed at ensuring the full respect of the rights of the individual and the obligations of the authorities/non-state actors in accordance with the letter and the spirit of the relevant bodies of law. In its strictest sense, protection encompasses those activities aimed at preventing and/or putting an end to the violations of the rights of individuals and the obligations of the authorities/belligerents in accordance with the letter and the spirit of International Humanitarian Law and other fundamental rules which protect persons in situations of violence and disaster. It is believed that protection involves defending the physical safety and the broad range of human rights to which IDPs are entitled and which encompass protection against displacement, during displacement and at return or resettlement.

Much of the current national and international efforts to address the problem of IDPs directed at alleviating their immediate emergency-related needs. There are hundreds of thousands of neglected IDPs in the region forgotten by their own government and for whom donors’ declarations of support for equal rights mean little.

So far response by humanitarian agencies focuses on humanitarian aspect of the displacement problem. Many of the international agencies have been reluctant to raise or become involved in protection issues for fear that this will compromise their neutrality or provoke restrictions on their access, or because of inexperience and high turn over of staff and lack of expertise in these field. Also the absence of any legal instrument that defines what protection means for the internally displaced and who should provide it create a gap in the protection of the physical safety and human rights of IDPs.

Humanitarian assistance should not substitute for effective political and economic responses to address the humanitarian crises. Sustained regional and international action is necessary to address the underlying causes of conflicts and to reduce vulnerability to displacement. Humanitarian aid by itself is rarely solely responsible for saving lives, but rather a vital complement to people’s own efforts to help themselves. There is a timely need to work for policy and/or capacity or provides sufficient resources and institutions to provide protection to the IDP crisis.

Humanitarian and development agencies have consider the issues of physical safety and human rights as urgent and series matter under their jurisdictions. They have to develop an explicit protection mandate that have tended to conceive the protection for IDPs as falling outside the scope of their work. They should expand their role other than delivery of food, medicine, and shelter to be their primary concerns, or relate their objective to work to protection activities. However, human rights protection cannot be done by halves, it involves the assurance of the whole set of rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As the High Commissioner for Human Rights has said, it means ensuring “all human rights for all”.

The writer can be reached at [email protected]

 

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Author

Abeje T. Chumo

Abeje T. Chumo is an expert on International Law and Use of Military Force in International Relations. He has special interest and skills linking human security with freedom, peace and social justice issues in East Africa. He continuously promotes alternative dispute resolution forums as a way forward to prevent, manage and resolve conflicts. He lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.