|
INTERNATIONAL: RECORD NUMBER OF INTERNALLY DISPLACED
PERSONS
jrs-dispatches-english@with.jrs.net
According to the annual study by the Norwegian Refugee Council, released on 17 April, the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) reached 26 million people in 2007, the highest ever recorded.
The Refugee Council reported that 26 million people in 52 countries worldwide were forced to flee their homes last year to escape violence, human rights violations and armed conflict. The countries that produced the largest number of displaced people in 2007 include Iraq, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Colombia, Somalia and Sudan. Half that number or about 13 million people are found in Africa.
In most cases, the Norwegian NGO stated, it is governments that are responsible for displacing people from their homes, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Central African Republic. In Sudan and Colombia, governments are displacing people indirectly through the use of irregular armed groups.
Last year, the report says 2.7 million displaced people returned to their places of origin. But, when they get home, they face a new set of problems, including insecurity and discrimination. The worst conditions for return exist in Colombia, Iraq, Kenya, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan and Zimbabwe. Their problems are compounded by the lack of economic activities and access to basic services.
The UN refugee agency warned this situation is likely to deteriorate due to rising food and energy prices. People are usually displaced to urban areas to join the ranks of the urban poor. Secondly, these rising food prices are generating instability and confrontation, which itself helps to trigger war and generate more displacement.
Unlike refugees, IDPs do not benefit from the protection of international law. Governments are supposed to protect their own citizens, but, in many cases, it is the governments themselves that create the biggest problems of displacement.
Posted on 2008-05-05
remarks:2 |
