“For the purposes of these Principles, internally displaced persons 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.”
–Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. 1998. UN Publication E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2. Geneva: United Nations. http://www.unhcr.org/43ce1cff2.html.
French translation: Personnes déplacées à l’intérieur de leur propre pays
“Internally Displaced Persons” means 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;
“Internal displacement” means the involuntary or forced movement, evacuation or relocation of persons or groups of persons within internationally recognized state borders;
–Article 1, (k), (l), African Union, African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (“Kampala Convention”), 22 October 2009, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4ae572d82.html. [accessed 21 March 2013]
“Internally displaced persons, or “IDPs” are part of the broader civilian population that needs protection and assistance because of conflict and human rights abuses or due to natural disasters.
[…]
The prevention of displacement and the protection of IDPs and other affected populations within their own country are the responsibility of national authorities. Particularly in situations of armed conflict, IDPs may find themselves in territories over which State authority is absent or difficult to enforce. In such situations, the prevention of displacement and the protection of IDPs are also the responsibility of non-State actors. In those situations where States require support or where national protection is not ensured, a critical protection role falls to the international community. It has been difficult to address this “protection gap” not only because of the sensitivity of the subject within the country concerned, but also because of various gaps within the international framework.”
— Inter-Agency Standing Committee, Handbook for the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons, June 2010, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4790cbc02.html [accessed 26 February 2013], p.1.
“Internally displaced persons, or IDPs, are among the world’s most vulnerable people. Unlike refugees, IDPs have not crossed an international border to find sanctuary but have remained inside their home countries. Even if they have fled for similar reasons as refugees (armed conflict, generalized violence, human rights violations), IDPs legally remain under the protection of their own government – even though that government might be the cause of their flight. As citizens, they retain all of their rights and protection under both human rights and international humanitarian law.”
Internally Displaced Persons, “On the Run in Their Own Land,” UNHCR, The UN Refugee Agency, http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646c146.html. [accessed 21 March 2013]
“In the post-Cold War era, the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) – people exiled within the borders of their countries of origin – has far outstripped the number of refugees (people similarly exiled but who cross international boundaries in the pursuit of safe haven). Yet, unlike refugees, who are unable to call upon the resources and expertise of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, no international institution exists for dealing with IDPs. Instead they often have to rely on ad hoc arrangements and those nonstate actors that are willing and are able to assist, and on occasion, protect them.”
–Rorden Wilkison, Editor’s Foreword in Weiss, Thomas G. and David Korn. 2006. Internal Displacement: Conceptualization and its consequences. New York: Routledge.
Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement. http://www.brookings.edu/about/projects/idp.
“Ten Years of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.” December 2008. Forced Migration Review Special Issue. http://www.fmreview.org/GuidingPrinciples10.
Global Protection Cluster. http://www.globalprotectioncluster.org/.
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. http://www.internal-displacement.org/.
Office of the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, Chaloka Beyani. http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/IDPersons/Pages/IDPersonsIndex.aspx.
UNHCR, Informal Consultative Meeting, UNHCR’s Role in Support of an Enhanced Humanitarian Response to Situations of Internal Displacement, Update on UNHCR’s Leadership Role within the Cluster Approach and IDP Operational Workplans, May 2007. http://www.unhcr.org/50f9518b9.html. [accessed 21 March 2013]
UNHCR Refworld : Internally Displaced Persons. http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/idps.html.
Abebe, Allehone. 2010. “The African Union Convention on Internally Displaced Persons: Its codification background, scope, and enforcement challenges.” Refugee Survey Quarterly 29(3): 28-57.
Carr, Susan. 2009. “From Theory to Practice: National and Regional Application of the Guiding
Principles.” International Journal of Refugee Law 21(1): 34-47.
Cohen, Roberta. 2004. “The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement: An Innovation in
International Standard Setting.” Global Governance 10: 459-480. http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/pdfid/4c51531f2.pdf.
Crisp, Jeff. 2009. “Refugees, Persons of Concern, and People on the Move: the Broadening Boundaries of UNHCR.” Refuge: Canada’s Periodical on Refugees 26(1): 73-76.
Deng, Francis M. 2008. “Africa’s Internally Displaced and the Development of International Norms: Standards versus Implementation.” In Africa: Mapping New Boundaries in International Law, ed. by Jeremy I. Levitt. Portland, Oregon: Hart Publishing.
Fadnes, Ellen and Cindy Horst. 2009. “Responses to Internal Displacement in Colombia: Guided by what Principles?” Refuge 26(1): 111.
Ferris, Elizabeth. 2008. “Internal Displacement and the Right to Seek Asylum.” Refugee Survey Quarterly 27(3): 76-92.
Ferris, Elizabeth. 2011. The Politics of Protection: The Limits of Humanitarian Action. Washington, D.C.: Brooking Institution.
Gillard, E. -C. 2005. “The Role of International Humanitarian Law in the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons.” Refugee Survey Quarterly 24(3): 37-48.
Kälin, Walter. “Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement: Annotations.” Studies in Transnational Legal Policy 38. Washington DC: American Society of International Law and The Brookings Institution. http://www.asil.org/pdfs/stlp.pdf.
Kalin, W. 2005. “The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement as International Minimum Standard and Protection Tool.” Refugee Survey Quarterly 24(3): 27-36.
Mooney, Erin. 2005. “The Concept of Internal Displacement and the Case for Internally Displaced Persons as a Category of Concern.” Refugee Survey Quarterly 24(3).
Moore, Will and Stephen Shellman. 2006. “Refugee or Internally Displaced Person?: To Where Should One Flee?” Comparative Political Studies 39(5): 599-622. http://strategicanalysisenterprises.com/papers/moore.shellman.2006.pdf. [accessed 21 March 2013]
Orchard, Phil. 2010. “The Perils of Humanitarianism: Refugee and IDP Protection in Situations of Regime-Induced Displacement.” Refugee Survey Quarterly 29(1): 38-60.
Tete, Suzanne Y. A. 2009. “Whose Solution? Policy Imperatives Vis-à-Vis Internally Displaced Persons’ Perceptions of Solutions to their Situation in the Sri Lankan Conflict.” Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift – Norwegian Journal of Geography 63(1): 46-60.
Weiss, Thomas G. and David Korn. 2006. Internal Displacement: Conceptualization and its consequences. New York: Routledge.
Wyndham, Jessica. 2006. “A Developing Trend: Laws and Policies on Internal Displacement.” Human Rights Brief 14, no. 1: 7-12.