SL: TOTAL WAR/ TSUNAMI IDPs 450000 SO FAR!!!

More than 26 million people in over 50 countries remain displaced

The 10th Anniversary of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement was marked at a high-level conference in Oslo from October 16-17 with the participation of over 120 representatives from governments, the United Nations and civil society.

The first international standards in relation to internally displaced persons, the Principles were initially presented to the United Nations in 1998. The 30 principles identify the rights of the internally displaced as well as the obligations of governments and insurgent groups toward Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). They also provide a guideline for other actors such as international organizations and non governmental organizations working with IDPs.

Although not a legally binding document, since their presentation to the UN Commission on Human Rights in 1998, they have acquired international standing, moral authority and acceptance. The Principles are based on international human rights law, international humanitarian law, and refugee law and have successfully combined all the provisions relevant to IDPs into one document to address their specific needs.

Burundi, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Uganda have also based national policies on the principles, and Liberia’s president has announced her government’s adoption of them.

More than 26 million people in over 50 countries around the world remain displaced. Many of them have been displaced within their country by conflicts and human rights violations and a significant number have been displaced due to natural disasters or infrastructural projects. In Sri Lanka, the total number of displaced is approximately 450,000 and fluctuates intermittently as the conflict in the North continues. The tsunami of December 2004 left a further half a million people internally displaced.

The Guiding Principles cover every aspect of displacement and provide a framework for understanding the problem of the internally displaced. In many countries, internally displaced people do not realize that they have certain rights or that local authorities have obligations toward them. For instance Principle 1 states "Internally displaced persons shall enjoy, in full equality, the same rights and freedoms under international and domestic law as do other persons in their country. They shall not be discriminated against in the enjoyment of any rights and freedoms on the ground that they are internally displaced." And Principle 6 states, "Every human being shall have the right to be protected against being arbitrarily displaced from his or her home or place of habitual residence".

The Principles are an empowerment tool. It is important for displaced people to know that certain standards exist with regard to their plight. This knowledge can broaden their vision and inspire them to empower themselves. As a monitoring tool they provide a benchmark for measuring conditions in a country. Currently, regional and non-governmental organizations are monitoring conditions in particular countries in terms of the Principles which now also serve as an advocacy tool.

At present the Guiding Principles fill a major gap in the international protection system for internally displaced persons. They cover all phases of displacement, prior to displacement (the right not to be displaced), during displacement, and during return or resettlement and reintegration. The Principles provide the displaced with a document to turn to when they are denied their rights and give governments and other actors, guidelines for designing national policies and laws on behalf of the displaced.

More information relating to IDPs, key documents etc., can be obtained from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre website at http://www.internal-displacement.org/ or at http://ww-w.nrc.no

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