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Internal displacement: one of today's most daunting humanitarian challenges
12-11-2009 Photo gallery
The displacement of people within their own country is one of the gravest humanitarian consequences of armed conflicts and violence. According to one estimate, nearly 26 million people are internally displaced around the globe, many of them by conflict.
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January 2009, Jabalia, Gaza Strip. Camp built by the Palestine Red Crescent for families whose houses were destroyed during Israeli military operations.
The displacement of people within their own country is one of the gravest humanitarian consequences of armed conflicts and violence. According to one estimate, nearly 26 million people are internally displaced around the globe, many of them by conflict.
Internal displacement is often the direct result of violations of international humanitarian law (IHL). Despite the fact that IHL is legally binding on both State and non-State actors, many of its rules are disregarded. Direct attacks on civilian communities, general lack of security and the destruction of livelihoods continue to force innumerable civilians to flee their homes.
The ICRC, together with its partners from the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, puts major emphasis on protecting and assisting those who have been uprooted by war, as well as on supporting the communities hosting them.
The pictures in this collection, taken in conflict areas over the past year, give an insight into the challenges faced today in assisting populations affected by internal displacement.
Special report: Internal displacement in armed conflict: facing up to the challenges
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March 2009, Montecristo, Colombia. An ICRC staff member raises awareness of IHL among military personnel.
Legal frameworks, including national laws, human rights law and – in armed conflict – IHL aim to protect IDPs. IHL prohibits the forced displacement of civilians by parties to a conflict– unless it is justified by imperative military reasons for the security of the civilians themselves.
The ICRC puts a premium on reminding parties to conflict of IHL, ensuring that armed forces and groups are aware of it, monitoring compliance with it and making representations as appropriate.
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March 2009, Puttumatalan, Sri Lanka. ICRC teams evacuate wounded and sick civilians from a conflict area.
People are especially vulnerable when they are displaced, by whatever causes. They are often brutally uprooted from their normal environment, which jeopardizes their ability to meet their basic needs. This is particularly true when families are torn apart, and when relatives are killed or go missing.
Among the most vulnerable are women, children and the elderly. While their special needs are recognized within existing legal standards, the rights spelled out are routinely violated during conflict.
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September 2008, Tskhinvali, Georgia/ South Ossetia. An ICRC staff member collects Red Cross messages from elderly people separated from their families.
In armed conflict, the elderly risk being abandoned. Unable, or unwilling to flee, they are left behind to face the consequences and fend for themselves.
Most have trouble particularly in getting food and adequate health care on their own. They may also lose contact with members of their family who have fled, and find it hard to restore contact with them.
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November 2008, North Kivu, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Children at an IDP camp fetch water from a distribution point installed by the ICRC.
In conflict zones of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where they represent only one quarter of the population, children account for nearly 50 per cent of recorded deaths. Most of them die from easily preventable and curable illnesses.
In some other countries affected by war, such as Colombia, children can represent over half of the displaced population. Everywhere, access to adequate health care and education for displaced children is jeopardized.
Separated from their families by the chaos of flight, children are exposed to additional, grave dangers. All too often, they fall prey to armed groups who use them as soldiers, servants and sex slaves.
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January 2009, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Rosa, 25, whose parents and two brothers were killed in the war, has fled her home four times. She works as a labourer and takes care of a 15-year-old orphan.
In addition to the usual dangers that all IDPs encounter–health hazards and restricted access to health care and other essential services – displaced women and girls are at greater risk of sexual violence and exploitation. Furthermore, because armed conflict usually raises the mortality rate among men, displaced women often carry the burden of heading their households.
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August 2009, Buner District, Pakistan. Distribution of food and other essential items to around 10,000 people in an IDP camp.
In some situations, camps may seem to be the solution for helping displaced people. For the authorities and aid organizations, it is often much easier to provide urgently needed services such as food, water and shelter in camps.
However, experience has shown that in many cases establishing camps creates new problems that may in fact compound the dangers to which IDPs are exposed – extortion, harassment, tribal or ethnic feuds and violence. Camps may also increase the displacement, prolong it and undermine traditional methods of coping.
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March 2009, Barbacoas, Colombia. The long-running conflict has forced countless people out of rural areas. They often seek safety around major cities and towns, where they struggle to survive.
Needs of displaced people in official camps are sometimes only the tip of the iceberg. The needs are frequently greatest outside the camps, especially in host communities where residents – often struggling themselves – provide most IDPs with food and shelter.
A prolonged presence of IDPs inevitably translates into a decline in the resources of host communities. This sometimes causes tension between the hosts and the hosted.
The ICRC always seeks to strike a balance between action undertaken to meet the specific needs of IDPs and more general efforts aimed at broader sections of the population – host communities, above all.
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September 2009, Medina Khaiwan, Yemen. The ICRC and the Yemen Red Crescent distribute relief goods to displaced people.
All too often, the authorities are unable or unwilling to meet their obligations to protect and assist IDPs. When this happens, humanitarian organizations have a role to play in ensuring the survival of the displaced people.
National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies are well placed to help IDPs, because they have their roots in communities, mostly cover an entire national territory, and have privileged access to the authorities. In many instances, National Societies from other countries also contribute to Movement's response, focusing on providing direct services and material aid.
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April 2009, Goma, North Kivu, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. These young sisters are waiting for news of their family at a centre for unaccompanied children.
Families can become separated while fleeing a conflict. Children, in particular, are often lost amid the chaos.
Everything possible must be done to establish the whereabouts of separated family members, restore contact between them and, if need be, reunite them. With the invaluable help of Red Cross or Crescent Society local networks, the ICRC devotes enormous efforts to meeting this challenge.
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October 2009, Darfur, Sudan. Set up by IDPs to meet their own needs, the market in Gereida camp has grown in recent years.
It is crucial to preserve or restore acceptable living conditions for IDPs and enable them to maintain a socio-cultural environment that is as close as possible to their habitual one. It is also essential for displaced people to become self-sufficient.
Promoting self-reliance among IDPs and, when necessary, host communities, is one of the main aims of ICRC assistance programmes.
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October 2009, Darfur, Sudan. With ICRC support, this family resettled after nearly five years spent in the Gereida camp.
The return to a normal life very often presents a formidable challenge to the IDPs themselves as well as to the authorities and resident communities.
Options for IDPs should include: returning to, and being reintegrated into, their communities of origin; being integrated into communities where they have found shelter; or being relocated to, and integrated into, a community somewhere else.
Whatever decision IDPs make should be voluntary, pursued in safety and with dignity. It should also lead to the restoration of livelihood and access to essential services.
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