ICC Note

With the growing attention on the refugee crisis, it is easy to ignore the plight of those who cannot leave a war zone also known as Internally Displaced People (IDP). For example, many IDPs in Iraq are persecuted Christians who fled ISIS’s control in 2014. They did not have the resources to cross borders into another area. These IDPs, often ignored by the international community, are the most vulnerable of society because staying within their own country comes with the risk of continued persecution by the state that sees them as second class citizens.   

2017-05-18 Middle East (Chatham House) – The current prominence of the issue of refugees around the world is understandable. Refugee influxes are highly visible, especially when they involve large numbers of people who are putting their lives at risk, crossing frontiers without authorization and congregating in squalid makeshift settlements. Their arrival raises difficult issues related to national sovereignty, state security and social cohesion.

But while these are important and pressing issues, the international community’s keen interest in the refugee problem has detracted attention from the fact that there are other groups of vulnerable people across the globe who are in equal, if not greater, need of human rights protection and humanitarian assistance – internally displaced people (IDPs).

According to UNHCR, around 65 million people around the world have been displaced by armed conflict or human rights violations. Some 21 million are refugees – namely people who have crossed an international frontier to seek safety in another state. Whereas twice that number, some 42 million, are IDPs, those who have also been uprooted by violence or persecution, but who remain within the boundaries of their own state.

…

[Full Story]