INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS

AND THEIR RIGHTS WITH

SPECIFIC REFERENCE TO THE
SUDAN DARFUR CRISIS

SUBMITTED TO MR. RHISHIKESH DAVE

SUBMITTED BY 07B150
CONTENTS

REASEARCH PLAN:……………………………………………………………..……........… 3

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:............................................................................................................3

HYPOTHESIS:................................................................................................................................3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:...................................................................................................4

INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS (IDPs):..........................................................................5

AN OVERVIEW OF THE CONFLICTS IN SUDAN:..................................................................8

INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS (IDPs) IN SUDAN:......................................................9

SUDAN’S PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT.........................................................11

LEGAL PROTECTION FOR THE INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS (IDPs):..............11

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS:......................................................................................14

BIBLIOGRAPHY:........................................................................................................................18

Page | 2
RESEARCH PLAN:

To put forth the various violations of the rights of the internally displaces persons around the
world and the possible concerns of the international bodies regards these frequent violations.
Also to lay down some suggestions to ensure their rights remain intact and cease the countless
violations over the years.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:

The following project aims to highlight some aspects of the situations of the internally displaced
persons, having regard to their legal and institutional protection under international human rights
and humanitarian law. It tries to find an appropriate definition and examines the general
framework of protection; and also examines some of the gaps in the system and  at the
possibilities of institutional protection. Finally, it suggests some possible solutions and aims to
contribute to an overdue legal and political debate on one of the most challenging contemporary
humanitarian problems.

HYPOTHESIS:

In the recent years, the crisis of displacement of people within their own country has brought up
a pertinent question as the protection of their rights. This project tries to answer the following
questions: How are their rights different from the rights of the refugees? What is the condition of
the internally displaced persons in Sudan? The laws applicable and their enforcement by the state
governments as well as the international organizations.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

The methodology adopted a doctrinal method of research. The research has been done using the
sources and books available in the GNLU library. References were also made to the online
sources available on the Web. The various journals dealing with the related case law were the
most important source apart from the textbooks.

Page | 4
 ‘INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS AND THEIR RIGHTS WITH SPECIFIC
REFERENCE TO THE SUDANESE DARFUR CRISIS’

“How best to protect civilians from forced displacement and the security of the displaced,
throughout all phases of displacement, continues to be an issue of grave concern to all of us.
IDP protection in the broadest sense, including the security of IDP leaders and human rights
defenders working on IDP rights, continues to lack effective national and international
responses. […] To ensure that all the facets of the protection issue are addressed in a
sustainable manner it is important that IDPs are not merely consulted, but placed at the
forefront of these discussions. Their ideas, plans and alternative proposals for how to better
their security situation need to be incorporated into national and international protection
policies and programs”.- Gimena Sanchez Garzoli, US Representative - PBI Colombia
Project.

INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS (IDPs):

Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) are "persons or groups of persons who have been forced or
obliged to flee or to 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."1

Components of the IDP definition: The definition provided by the Guiding Principles on
Internal Displacement highlights two elements:

1) The coercive or otherwise involuntary character of movement: 

The definition mentions some of the most common causes of involuntary movements, such as
armed conflict, violence, human rights violations and disasters. These causes have in common
that they give no choice to people but to leave their homes and deprive them of the most essential
protection mechanisms, such as community networks, access to services, livelihoods.
Displacement severely affects the physical, socio-economic and legal safety of people and
should be systematically regarded as an indicator of potential vulnerability.
1
Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, Introduction, para. 2, African Union Convention for the Protection
and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa ("Kampala Convention"), Article 1 (k)

Page | 5
2) The fact that such movement takes place within national borders:

Unlike refugees, who have been deprived of the protection of their state of origin, IDPs remain
legally under the protection of national authorities of their country of habitual residence. IDPs
should therefore enjoy the same rights as the rest of the population. The Guiding Principles on
Internal Displacement remind national authorities and other relevant actors of their responsibility
to ensure that IDPs’ rights are respected and fulfilled, despite the vulnerability generated by their
displacement.2

Internally displaced people (IDPs) have been forced to flee their homes because their lives were
in danger, but unlike refugees they have not crossed an international border. Many IDPs remain
exposed to hunger, aggravation and disease during their displacement and are subject to a
multitude of human rights violations. Although IDPs outnumber refugees by nearly 2 to 1, their
plight receives far less international attention. While refugees are entitled to seek international
protection under the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, the international
community is not under the same legal obligation to protect internally displaced people.
Refugees leave their country because they have no choice and fear for their own life and safety
of their family. Refugees flee their country when their government cannot protect them from the
various human rights abuses. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) are those forced to move within
their own country because of war, persecution or environmental disasters, rather than cross
national borders.3

National governments have the primary responsibility for the well-being and peace and security
of all displaced people on their territory, but often they are unable or unwilling to live up to this
obligation as defined by the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, the set of relevant
international standards. In the absence of any help mandated to IDPs by agencies, the
international community has been trying to work out arrangements aimed at ensuring a
collaborative, inter-agency response to the needs of the displaced.

Worldwide IDP statistics: According to the records of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR), there are approximately 12 million refugees and 26 million IDPs

2
http://www.internal-displacement.org/8025708F004D404D/(httpPages)/CC32D8C34EF93C88802570F800517610
visited on 23rd March, 2010, 7:27pm
3
http://www.amnesty.org/en/refugees-and-migrants, visited on 23rd March 2010.

Page | 6
worldwide at this time. In 2004, the Darfur crisis itself affected 4.2 million people and displaced
2.0 million. After five-years, approximately half a million people are still living in these IDP
camps. In Chad, where 700,000 have had to flee fighting, there continues to be approximately
185,000 people displaced and living in camps. Another example can be found in the Congo,
where approximately 1.4 million people were displaced due to its internal conflicts, while
apparently 25,000 appear to be dying each month from poverty-related illnesses. There are over
1.5 million Iraqi refugees living in Syria, Jordan and other neighboring countries. Moreover,
since the invasion in 2003, approximately 2.9 million IDPs in Iraq have been uprooted from their
homes.4

Why are IDPs particularly vulnerable?: Internal displacement, affecting over 25 million
people worldwide, has become increasingly recognized as one of the most tragic phenomena of
the contemporary world. It breaks families ties, cuts social and cultural relations, terminates
dependable employment positions, disrupts opportunities for educational, denies access to such
vital necessities as food, shelter and medicine, and exposes innocent persons to such acts of
violence as attacks on camps, disappearances and rape. Most of these people have little access to
food rations and are unemployed, and live in dangerous and unpleasant conditions. Many of
these IDPs are thought to be dying due to starvation, malnutrition, and associated diseases.
Although all persons affected by conflict and/or human rights violations suffer, displacement
from one's place of residence may make the internally displaced particularly vulnerable. 5

4
IDMC: SUDAN: 4.9 million IDPs across Sudan face ongoing turmoil A profile of the internal displacement
situation 27 May, 2009
5
Following are some of the factors that are likely to increase the need for protection:
1. Internally displaced persons may be in transit from one place to another, may be in hiding, may be forced
toward unhealthy or inhospitable environments, or face other circumstances that make them especially
vulnerable.
2. The social organization of displaced communities may have been destroyed or damaged by the act of
physical displacement; family groups may be separated or disrupted; women may be forced to assume non-
traditional roles or face particular vulnerabilities.
3. Internally displaced populations, and especially groups like children, the elderly, or pregnant women, may
experience profound psychosocial distress related to displacement.
4. Removal from sources of income and livelihood may add to physical and psychosocial vulnerability for
displaced people.
5. Schooling for children and adolescents may be disrupted.
6. Internal displacement to areas where local inhabitants are of different groups or inhospitable may increase
risk to internally displaced communities; internally displaced persons may face language barriers during
displacement.
7. The condition of internal displacement may raise the suspicions of or lead to abuse by armed combatants,
or other parties to conflict.

Page | 7
Ironically, the government of Iraq has access to large sums of money, but has done little to
address these humanitarian needs. Nonetheless, the international community does very little to
alleviate the sufferings of those who are affected.

The displacement of people within their own countries due to war or natural disaster is a matter
of growing concern, especially among those involved in humanitarian work. This concern is
justified time and again that the internally displaced people (IDPs) suffer extreme hardship that
jeopardizes their very survival. A host of dangers threaten IDPs, whether during their flight,
while they are displaced, or even upon their return home or their resettlement elsewhere. The
death toll among IDPs, especially among children, the elderly and pregnant women, frequently
reaches alarming proportions, and the difficulties experienced by those left behind and by host
communities further aggravate the problem. Internal displacement is often the consequence of
violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) during armed conflict or failure to comply
with other norms intended to protect people in situations of violence, such as human rights law.
When civilians flee a conflict zone, this is a good indication that the warring parties are
indifferent to their rights under IHL or, worse, are deliberately targeting them. IHL expressly
prohibits any party to an armed conflict from compelling civilians to leave their homes and
affords IDPs the same protection from the effects of hostilities and the same assistance as the rest
of the civilian population.6

AN OVERVIEW OF THE CONFLICTS IN SUDAN:

After Sudan gained independence in 1956, conflict between the north and the south broke out
almost immediately, while conflicts in the eastern and western regions of the country flared up
later. At the root of each of these conflicts lies resistance to the political and economic
marginalization by the central government in Khartoum of Sudan’s peripheral regions, and
demands for greater political autonomy for these regions and a more equal distribution of the
country’s national wealth. Sudan’s longest-running civil war between the (mainly Arab, mainly
Muslim) north and the (mainly African, mainly animist and Christian) south started in 1983 and

8. Internally displaced persons may lack identity documents essential to receiving benefits or legal
recognition; in some cases, fearing persecution, displaced persons have sometimes got rid of such
documents.
6
"The Concept of Internal Displacement and the Case for Internally Displaced Persons as a Category of Concern ",
by Erin Mooney, in: Refugee Survey Quarterly, Volume 24, Issue 3, 2005.

Page | 8
only came to an end in January 2005 with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement
(CPA) by the government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army
(SPLM/A). The war in the south is thought to have led to the deaths of 2 million Sudanese and
the displacement of 4.5 million people (4 million IDPs and half a million refugees). By the end
of 2008, an estimated 2.24 million refugees and IDPs had returned to Southern Sudan. The CPA
did not address the demands of the people of eastern Sudan, or of the Darfurians in western
Sudan. Conflict in the eastern states turned violent in 1995. In October 2006 the Government of
Sudan and the Eastern Front signed the Eastern Sudan Peace Agreement (ESPA).7

In Darfur, the struggle for land and power intensified in mid-2003. By the end of 2008 2.7
million people had been internally displaced by the war in Darfur. The Darfur Peace Agreement
(DPA) signed under African Union (AU) auspices in May 2006 between the government of
Sudan government and the faction of the insurgent Sudan Liberation Army led by Minni Arkou
Minnawi (SLA/MM) failed to bring an end to the conflict. The greater Khartoum area, while not
itself the scene of conflict, hosts a large population of IDPs from each of these areas of conflict.8

INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS (IDPs) IN SUDAN:

While refugee numbers continue to decrease around the world, the number of internally
displaced persons (IDPs) continues to steadily rise.9 The United Nations Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) estimates the number of IDPs in the Sudan at
around 6 million, the largest IDP population in the world. According to the United Nations,
“internally displaced persons (IDPs) are entitled to enjoy, in full equality, the same rights and
freedoms under domestic and international law as do the rest of a country's citizens.” 10 In the
Sudan however, IDPs are denied their basic human rights and “although the displaced are
frequently forced to flee their homes for the same reasons as do refugees, the fact that they
remain within national territory means that they cannot seek to qualify as bona fide “refugees”
entitled to the special protective regime accorded to refugees under international law. Moreover,
7
The Protection of Internally Displaced Persons in the Sudan: Applying international law at the field level, Kirsten
Zaat
8
ibid
9
Phuong, Catherine; The International Protection of Internally Displaced Persons, (Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, 2004), p.1.
10
United Nations Commission on Human Rights; “Compilation and analysis of legal norms”, COMMISSION ON
HUMAN RIGHTS Fifty-first session, E/CN.4/1996/52/Add.2, 5 December 1995.

Page | 9
their presence within national territory means that their own Government bears primary
responsibility for meeting their protection and assistance needs.”11

As a result of Sudan’s numerous conflicts, about 4.9 million people remain internally displaced
in the country; together they make up the single largest internally displaced population in the
world. In Southern Sudan, an estimated four million IDPs and half a million refugees were
displaced by the war between the north and the south. 2.24 million people are thought to have
returned since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in January 2005, but
they have faced numerous obstacles, including very limited access to livelihood opportunities
and basic services. An estimated ten per cent of all return movements thus far have been
unsuccessful. Inter-communal violence has also caused significant new displacement in Southern
Sudan, with 187,000 people newly displaced in 2008.12

Displaced in Dafur: When the conflict in Darfur, west Sudan broke out in 2003, hundreds of
thousands lost their lives or were forced from their homes. Many sought shelter in camps, but
many more had to survive through their own means or with the help of host communities.
Gereida camp at its height provided shelter for up to 150,000 people but now, as relative calm
and stability returns, many are taking the first steps towards going home.13

Khartoum continues to host about 1.2 million IDPs from all areas of Sudan, but mostly from the
south. While Khartoum has seen strong economic growth, many of Khartoum’s poor and
vulnerable populations, including IDPs, continue to struggle with inadequate access to social
services and few sustainable livelihoods. Camps like Gereida in Darfur, which has sheltered up
to 150,000 residents, reflect only a tiny part of the problem. Camps often create new problems
and compound vulnerabilities than provide temporary emergency relief. In Darfur, some 317,000
people were newly displaced in 2008, often for the second or third time since the conflict started
in early 2003, taking the total number of IDPs to 2.7 million by January 2009. In the first three
months of 2009 a further 65,000 people were displaced. The threats to people’s safety have

11
United Nations Commission on Human Rights; “Compilation and analysis of legal norms”, COMMISSION ON
HUMAN RIGHTS Fifty-first session, E/CN.4/1996/52/Add.2, 5 December 1995.
12
ibid
13
http://www.icrc.org/Web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/pakistan-tvnews-091109!OpenDocument, visited on 24th March,
2010

Page | 10
imposed severe limitations on rural livelihood strategies and have led to a rapid population
growth in Darfur’s major towns and IDP settlements.

SUDAN’S PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT

Protecting Sudanese IDPs is the ultimate responsibility of Government of Sudan, as that is the
state in which they enjoy their citizenship. This responsibility has negative obligations such as
the requirement not to displace IDPs and not to inflict inhumane treatment upon them, as well as
positive obligations such as the duty to provide IDPs with sufficient water, food, education and
health services. It also includes ensuring that others do not displace them.

“Reaffirming human rights protection for internally displaced persons thus amounts to reminding
the state of the fact that internally displaced persons should still benefit from the same protection
as anyone else in the country. Not only should the state treat the internally displaced like the rest
of the civilian population but it should also provide extra protection for these vulnerable
populations.”14 The human rights obligations of Sudan cannot be derogated from in the post-
peace context, and indeed these rights are reaffirmed in the agreement which brought about and
moderates peace in the Sudan, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

LEGAL PROTECTION FOR THE INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS (IDPs):

International humanitarian law is applicable in situations of armed conflict, whether international
or non-international. If IDPs are in a State that is involved in an armed conflict then, provided
they are not taking an active part in the hostilities, they are considered civilians and, as such, are
entitled to the protection afforded to civilians as international humanitarian law expressly
prohibits compelling civilians to leave their place of residence unless either their security or
imperative military necessity renders this essential. The general rules of international
humanitarian law that protect civilians can prevent displacement or, should it occur, offer
protection during displacement.15
14
Phuong, Catherine; The International Protection of Internally Displaced Persons, (Cambridge: Cambridge UP,
2004), p.44
15
The following rules are of particular relevance:
1. those prohibiting parties to a conflict from targeting civilians and civilian objects or conducting hostilities
in an indiscriminate manner;
2. the prohibitions on starvation of the civilian population and on the destruction of objects indispensable to
its survival;

Page | 11
If respected, these rules play an important role in preventing  displacement, as it is often their
violation which is at the root of displacement. The only context in which international
humanitarian law expressly addresses the question of return is that of “lawful displacements”, i.e.
evacuations for reasons of security or imperative military necessity. In such cases, displaced
persons must be returned to their homes as soon as hostilities in the area have ceased. A right of
return can be inferred a  fortiori following arbitrary displacement.16

With reference to the Sudan Darfur Crisis: The international community’s awareness to the
plight of Sudanese IDPs has a long and checkered history. 17 It was the fighting in south Sudan in
1972 that first prompted the United Nations General Assembly to request UNHCR to expand its
mandate and consider providing protection to internally displaced persons (Sudanese IDPs) for
the first time in the agency’s history. This suggests that in spite the lack of a detailed approach to
the legal protection of IDPs, there has been an ongoing awareness strategy for at least 30 years
that a large proportion of forced migrants are subsisting in emergency scenarios without any
adequate legal protection. Some persons forced to migrate, refugees, are fortunate enough to
cross imaginary lines on maps that where in all probability drawn by distant colonial powers of
the past. Thus, their protection is facilitated. Others, IDPs, move only, accidentally or otherwise,
within the realm of the state of their citizenship and are therefore not afforded requisite
international legal response. This is in total disregard of the rights of the internally displaced
persons.

The Commission on Human Rights in 1993 passed a resolution requesting the UN Secretary
General’s Special Representative on Internally Displaced Persons, Francis Deng, to postulate a
study into the needs of IDPs with a view to undertaking further work into their potential legal
protection. In 1995, Deng published the resultant Internally Displaced Persons: Compilation
and Analysis of Legal Norms.18 The document puts forth the urgent need of an awakening by the
3. the prohibitions on collective punishments which often take the form of destruction of dwellings;
4. the rules requiring parties to a conflict to allow relief consignments to reach civilian populations in need.
16
Inter-Agency Standing Committee, Implementing the Collaborative Response to Situations of Internal
Displacement. Guidance for UN Humanitarian and/or Resident Coordinators and Country Teams, September
2004, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/41ee9a074.html [accessed 24 March 2010]
17
The Protection of Internally Displaced Persons in the Sudan: Applying international law at the field level, Kirsten
Zaat
18
Internally Displaced Persons: Compilation and Analysis of Legal Norms, E/CN.4/1996/52/Add.2, 5 December
2005 (UNOCHR, New York and Geneva, 1998). As also transferred into an infield handbook by UNHCR entitled

Page | 12
international community to the international protection needs of IDPs. The Compilation
highlights the lack of an adequate international legal regime which privileges a shrinking
minority, refugees, over an ever expanding group of persons for whom their state simply fails to
protect. The Compilation arrived at a time in which the international community is increasingly
favoring respect for human rights over state sovereignty and can no longer afford to ignore the
rights and livelihoods of around 25 million internally displaced persons around the globe. The
Compilation sets out the existing law and identifies those grey areas where it might be argued by
some that gaps in protection exist.19 The Compilation then makes important suggestions on how
human rights law might be interpreted to bridge such gaps and also offers the suggestion of
developing future soft law options, such as IDP guidelines, so that what is legally implicit can be
made practically explicit for the purposes of both policy and action.

The rights of IDPs are also found in several regional treaties, including the American
Convention on Human Rights (1969), the European Convention on Human Rights, and
importantly for Sudanese IDPs, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (1981). As
Phuong notes, “human rights law applies to internally displaced persons since it applies to all
individuals without distinction ...”20 Similarly, other conventions including the Genocide
Convention and the Convention against Torture apply equally to IDPs as they do to all other
human beings.

Nations at this time appear to be keen on developing ‘soft law’ with the eventual introduction of
new human rights standards. Indeed, the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (1998)21
which have grown from the Compilation at the behest of the Office of the United Nations Special
Representative on Internal Displacement aim to protect IDPs within the framework of existing
human rights law, international humanitarian law (IHL) and in compliment with refugee law. 22

International Legal Standards Applicable to the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons: A Reference Manual
for UNHCR Staff (Geneva: UNHCR, 1996).
19
ibid
20
Phuong, Catherine; The International Protection of Internally Displaced Persons, (Cambridge: Cambridge UP,
2004), p.42.
21
Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2, 11 February 1998. See also the Handbook
for Applying the Guiding Principles and the Manual on Field Practice on Internal Displacment as published by UN
OCHA at www.releifweb.int/idp
22
Brett, R and Lester, E; ‘Refugee Law and International Humanitarian Law: Parallels, Lessons and Looking
Ahead’, International Review of the Red Cross 2001, 843, p. 714.

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The Guiding Principles serve to demonstrate the “considerable complimentarily” 23 between these
various bodies of law at a point where they appear to converge.24

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS:

In the recent years, the international community has become increasingly aware of the plight of
the internally displaced persons and steps are being taken to address their needs. At the request
of the Commission on Human Rights, the Secretary-General of the United Nations appointed a
Representative on internally displaced persons to study the causes and consequences of internal
displacement, the status of the internally displaced in international law, the extent of the
coverage accorded them within existing international institutional arrangements and ways in
which their protection and assistance could be improved, including through dialogue with
Governments and other pertinent actors.25

Many organizations, intergovernmental and non-governmental, have broadened their scope of

activities to address the needs of the internally displaced more effectively after the United
Nations drew attention to the crisis. Governments need to be more responsive by acknowledging
their primary responsibility of protecting and assisting affected populations under their control,
and when they cannot discharge that responsibility for lack of capacity, they could seek
assistance from the international community. On the other hand, the international community is
more inclined than it is prepared, both normatively and institutionally, to respond effectively to
the phenomenon of internal displacement. 

A central body by the government needs to be set up on internal displacement. This body should
have authority over all actors involved in the welfare of IDPs. Its responsibilities would include:

23
Lavoyer, J.P; ‘Protection under International Humanitarian Law’, in ICRC; Internally Displaced Persons,
Symposium, Geneva, 23-25 October 1995 (Geneva: ICRC, 1996), p.26.
24
Fitzpatrick, J; ‘Human Rights and Forced Displacement: Converging Standards’, in Bayefsky and Fitzpatrick, J
(eds) Human Rights and Forced Displacement (The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 2000), p.3.
25
UN Commission on Human Rights, Report of the Representative of the Secretary-General, Mr. Francis M. Deng,
submitted pursuant to Commission resolution 1997/39. Addendum: Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, 11
February 1998, E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3d4f95e11.html
[accessed 23 March 2010]

Page | 14
  framing a comprehensive policy on IDPs modeled on the Guiding Principles on Internal
Displacement and the Sphere standards expounded in the UNHCR Handbook for
Emergencies;
 monitoring the implementation of such a policy by the different ministries and
departments responsible for the welfare of IDPs;
 monitoring all other policies and practices that affect IDPs, including those of the military
forces;
 integrating IDP concerns and rights into all aspects of government policy and ensuring
that state agencies focus on the needs of IDPs when implementing policy; and
 receiving, forwarding or acting upon complaints from IDPs.

The government must adopt legislation based on the Guiding Principles on Internal
Displacement that recognizes the rights of IDPs and provides an effective method of
enforcement. Such legislation should be drafted in collaboration with NGOs and humanitarian
organizations.

Persons affected by armed conflict and other situations of violence experience a wide variety of
needs in the short, medium and long term. These include food, water, shelter and other essential
items, security, physical and psychological well-being, and assistance in restoring family links,
health care, education and economic and social rehabilitation. People are especially vulnerable
when they are displaced, whatever the cause of the displacement. They are deprived, often
brutally, of their ordinary environment, and this directly threatens their ability to meet their most
basic needs, especially when families are torn apart or when relatives are killed or go missing.
For humanitarian action to be effective, it is of paramount importance to take into account all the
needs of IDPs at every stage of their displacement. Only a comprehensive approach can ensure
that assistance and protection – two interlocking aspects of effective humanitarian operations –
are provided simultaneously. The needs of IDPs cannot be strictly divided into categories or
sectors.

Khartoum, Sudan, continues to host about 1.2 million IDPs from all areas of Sudan, but mostly
from the south. Most are looking to settle permanently in Khartoum, but their living conditions

Page | 15
remain difficult. While Khartoum has seen strong economic growth, many of Khartoum’s poor
and vulnerable populations, including IDPs, continue to struggle with inadequate access to social
services and few sustainable livelihoods. Camps like Gereida in Darfur, which has sheltered up
to 150,000 residents, reflect only a tiny part of the problem. While the role camps play in
temporary emergency relief is clear, they often create new problems and compound
vulnerabilities. More strategies are needed for the millions who are dispersed by war and fall off
the radar, relying on the help of host communities, or struggling by themselves. Displaced people
endure extreme hardship, including direct attacks, ill treatment, sexual violence and loss of their
property or livelihood because of violations of international humanitarian law.26

The decision by the judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue a warrant of arrest
for Sudanese President Omar Bashir for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in
Darfur is a welcome and crucial step towards challenging the impunity that has worsened
conflict in Darfur and elsewhere in Sudan. The Sudanese government must exercise restraint in
its response to the decision, and ensure that its actions do not undermine the opportunity to
achieve peace in Sudan. It must also take genuine steps to transform the political institutions and
policies that drive conflict in Sudan. The decision to reopen the Darfur genocide case and give
judges even more evidence charging Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir with genocide is crucial
for the sake of humanity.27

National IDP status: Several countries have adopted legislation providing for the creation of a
national status for IDPs or selected groups of IDPs (those displaced by a particular conflict, for
instance). Such statuses have, for example, been created by law in Azerbaijan, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Colombia, Croatia, Georgia and the Russian Federation. Though not required
under international law, such a status usually provides for the registration of those entitled to the
status and provides beneficiaries with social, economic and legal assistance to safeguard rights
endangered by displacement and support the implementation of durable solutions. These statuses
should not deprive IDPs of their rights under human rights and humanitarian law.28 
26
"The Concept of Internal Displacement and the Case for Internally Displaced Persons as a Category of Concern",
by Erin Mooney, in: Refugee Survey Quarterly, Volume 24, Issue 3, 2005.
27
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=5959&l=1, visited on 25th March
28
Recommendations International seminar on PROTECTING THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF INTERNALLY
DISPLACED PERSONS AND PROMOTING THEIR ORGANISATIONAL PROCESSES LUXEMBOURG, 27-
28 JUNE, 2005, www.peacebrigades.org/beo.html, visted on 24th March, 2010

Page | 16
The bodies of law are binding on States and, in the case of international humanitarian law, also
on organized armed groups. More strategies are needed for the millions who are dispersed by
war and fall off the radar, relying on the help of host communities, or struggling by themselves.
These displaced people endure extreme hardship, including direct attacks, ill treatment, sexual
violence and loss of their property or livelihood because of violations of international
humanitarian law. The main objective is to provide fundamental protections that can prevent
displacement, protect people during displacement, and help them to return to their homes.
Existing law covers the most important needs; there are no significant gaps in the legal
protection of IDPs. The challenge lies in ensuring the implementation of existing law- treaties
and conventions.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Articles and Websites referred:

1. Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, Introduction, para. 2, African Union

Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa
("Kampala Convention"), Article 1 (k)
2. http://www.internal-displacement.org/8025708F004D404D/
(httpPages)/CC32D8C34EF93C88802570F800517610, visited on 23rd March, 2010,
7:27pm
3. http://www.amnesty.org/en/refugees-and-migrants, visited on 23rd March 2010.
4. IDMC: SUDAN: 4.9 million IDPs across Sudan face ongoing turmoil A profile of the
internal displacement situation 27 May, 2009
5. "The Concept of Internal Displacement and the Case for Internally Displaced Persons as
a Category of Concern", by Erin Mooney, in: Refugee Survey Quarterly, Volume 24,
Issue 3, 2005.
6. The Protection of Internally Displaced Persons in the Sudan: Applying international law
at the field level, Kirsten Zaat
7. Phuong, Catherine; The International Protection of Internally Displaced Persons,
(Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2004), p.1.
8. United Nations Commission on Human Rights; “Compilation and analysis of legal
norms”, COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS Fifty-first session,
E/CN.4/1996/52/Add.2, 5 December 1995.
9. http://www.icrc.org/Web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/pakistan-tvnews-091109!OpenDocument
10. Inter-Agency Standing Committee, Implementing the Collaborative Response to
Situations of Internal Displacement. Guidance for UN Humanitarian and/or Resident
Coordinators and Country Teams, September 2004, available at:
http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/41ee9a074.html [accessed 24 March 2010]
11. Internally Displaced Persons: Compilation and Analysis of Legal Norms,
E/CN.4/1996/52/Add.2, 5 December 2005 (UNOCHR, New York and Geneva, 1998). As
also transferred into an infield handbook by UNHCR entitled International Legal

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 Standards Applicable to the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons: A Reference
Manual for UNHCR Staff (Geneva: UNHCR, 1996).
12. Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2, 11 February 1998.
See also the Handbook for Applying the Guiding Principles and the Manual on Field
Practice on Internal Displacment as published by UN OCHA at www.releifweb.int/idp
13. Brett, R and Lester, E; ‘Refugee Law and International Humanitarian Law: Parallels,
Lessons and Looking Ahead’, International Review of the Red Cross 2001, 843, p. 714.
14. Lavoyer, J.P; ‘Protection under International Humanitarian Law’, in ICRC; Internally
Displaced Persons, Symposium, Geneva, 23-25 October 1995 (Geneva: ICRC, 1996),
p.26.
15. Fitzpatrick, J; ‘Human Rights and Forced Displacement: Converging Standards’, in
Bayefsky and Fitzpatrick, J (eds) Human Rights and Forced Displacement (The Hague:
Kluwer Law International, 2000), p.3.
16. UN Commission on Human Rights, Report of the Representative of the Secretary-
General, Mr. Francis M. Deng, submitted pursuant to Commission resolution 1997/39.
Addendum: Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, 11 February
1998, E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2, http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3d4f95e11.html,
[accessed 23 March 2010]
17. "The Concept of Internal Displacement and the Case for Internally Displaced Persons as
a Category of Concern", by Erin Mooney, in: Refugee Survey Quarterly, Volume 24,
Issue 3, 2005.
18. http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=5959&l=1, visited on 25th March
19. Recommendations International seminar on PROTECTING THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF
INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS AND PROMOTING THEIR
ORGANISATIONAL PROCESSES LUXEMBOURG, 27-28 JUNE, 2005,
www.peacebrigades.org/beo.html, visited on 24th March, 2010
20. http://www.icrc.org/eng/refugees_displaced_persons, visited on 24th March, 2010

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