IDP Protection IDP Protection

PROTECTION IDP Protection

all activities aimed at ensuring full respect for the rights of the individual in accordance with the letter and the spirit of the relevant bodies of law

From: Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC)

Assistance and protection: Two sides of the same coin

IDP Protection

Year
1970 1980

Refugees 9 million 14 million

IDPs
5 million 9 million

2000
2006

16 million
9.8 million

22-25 million
25 million

Sources: UNHCR website for refugee figures and NRC/Global IDP Project for IDP figures

IDP Protection

Who is an internally displaced person?

IDP Protection
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.

IDP Protection

Refugees Have crossed an international border Does not include natural disasters Have lost the protection of their own country Their status entitles to certain rights IDPs
Are displaced within their own country Causes of flight: violence, war, human rights violations, disasters Country still in charge of their protection Do not have a special status under international law but should enjoy same rights as other citizens

Guiding Principles

Guiding Principles
Content
Section I - General Principles Section II - Protection from displacement Section III - Protection during displacement Section IV Protection after displacement (humanitarian assistance) Section V Protection during return, resettlement and reintegration

Guiding Principles
Not binding - but derived from binding international law
Provide guidance to all actors dealing with IDPs, including national and international actors, state and non-state actors

States increasingly use the GP as a reference tool

Guiding Principles
Understanding the situation An empowerment tool A monitoring tool An advocacy tool to protect IDPs rights

A framework for developing protection strategies

An educational tool

Who is responsible for the protection of IDPs?

Legal Framework
Refugees
State authorities in host country The UNHCR has a global mandate for refugees worldwide

IDPs
National state authorities Cluster response under the leadership of the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator IDPs of concern to the IOM or UNHCR in some countries only

Legal Framework
Guiding Principle 3 National authorities have the primary duty and responsibility to provide protection and humanitarian assistance to IDPs within their jurisdiction Guiding Principle 25 The primary duty and responsibility for providing humanitarian assistance to internally displaced persons lies with national authorities

Guiding Principles

Principle 3-2: IDPs can request assistance from the authorities Principle 25-2: International organizations have the right to offer their support

Guiding Principles
Access for international organizations
Principle 25: Support should not be arbitrarily denied Free and rapid access should be granted Principle 30: Access during the phase of return and resettlement

IDP Protection Involving IDPs: a requirement

GP 7: Involve IDPs in planning and management of relocation GP 18: Participation of women in planning and distribution of supplies GP 28: Participation on IDPs in planning and management of durable solutions

IDP Protection
Involving IDPs: what to assess
Nature and timing of the threats confronting them

Resources within displaced communities

Practical possibilities for resisting these threats History of previous threats and coping mechanisms Optimal linkage between their own response and that of an agency or host community

IDP Protection
8. What is the capacity of the IDPs to respond to the protection challenges their practical possibilities and opportunities to resist threats and answer needs

Monitoring protection
Role of protection focal points
To receive and reports to UNHCR/IOM/lead agency for protection according to issues that they hear about or observe in each camp (brief with only main issues) To document and refer cases of vulnerable individuals (can be very brief).

Monitoring protection
Role of community based staff
To keep eyes and ears open and observe protection problems in the community

To report these observations to their respective supervisors.

Monitoring protection
What should not be done
Any direct intervention by community based staff. Protection problems are complex and may put staff (especially IDP staff) at risk if they attempt to intervene in any way Announce or inform the community in any way that they are monitoring protection. This may cause harm to the staff concerned and may encourage false claims

Monitoring protection
Establish a referral system
Identify individuals to act as focal persons Brief community based staff on what issues they need to be reporting Ensure that systems are in place to maintain confidentiality during reporting Ensure that a member of senior management (e.g. project manager, field coordinator, protection officer) sign off on protection referrals before they are passed to lead agency

Monitoring protection
Document cases
Develop protection referral form Ensure all relevant facts are established

For general protection issues, describe the nature of the problem as a whole, which sections of the community are affected, times and dates relating to any incidents, relevant actors and actions taken to date
Ensure confidentiality when receiving any report from an individual IDP

Monitoring protection
Best Principles to Protect IDPs
Think about law, violation, rights, responsibility Empowering. Build on peoples own self-protection capacity Be realistic about the limits of your organization Training on rights for state and non-state authorities Conducting public advocacy on behalf of IDPs Include protection in all assistance programmes and include protection in all job descriptions