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April 11, 2002



Statement of the Representative of the Secretary-General
on Internally Displaced Persons,
Dr. Francis M. Deng,
to the 58th Session of
the Commission on Human Rights




Mr. Chairman,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It has now been ten years since the Commission on Human Rights decided to request the Secretary-General to appoint a representative on the issue of internal displacement, and I was honoured with that appointment. Ten years is a long enough time to make an assessment of where we started, how far we have come, and what challenges still lie ahead.

The Commission became seized with the issue because of the large numbers of people around the world who had been forced from their homes by internal armed conflicts, communal violence, and egregious violations of human rights, but who had not crossed international borders. Engulfed by the very conflicts from which they sought to escape, they remained exposed to severe threats to their physical security, gross violations of their human rights, and denial of their basic survival needs for shelter, food, medicine, sanitation, potable water, occupation, and education. Had they moved across the borders, they would have been considered refugees for whom the international community has well-established legal and institutional frameworks for their protection and assistance. But because they were still within their state borders, there was no specific legal or institutional basis for providing them with international protection and assistance.

Although the Commission decided to consider the issue, there was great concern about the sensitivity of the problem, since internal displacement was considered by definition an internal matter that fell under state sovereignty. My initial assignment was for one year to study the causes and consequences of internal displacement, the extent to which international legal and institutional frameworks provided bases for protecting and assisting internally displaced persons, and ways in which the international community might respond more effectively to their needs. After considering my first report, the mandate was extended for two years, and subsequently for three-year periods.

Over the years, the role of the mandate has crystallized into that of advocacy; raising the level of awareness about the displacement crisis worldwide and acting as a catalyst for international response. Specifically, the activities of the mandate have focused on four areas: developing and providing an appropriate normative framework for responding to the protection and assistance needs of the internally displaced; fostering effective institutional arrangements at the international and regional levels to these same ends; focusing attention on specific situations through country missions; and continuing studies to broaden and deepen our understanding of the problem in its various dimensions.

Mr. Chairman, considering the constraints with which the mandate was confronted from the start, it is fair to say that a great deal has been accomplished. Working in close collaboration with a team of international legal experts and in a broad-based process of consultation involving representatives of relevant UN agencies, regional organizations and non-governmental organizations, we developed the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, which restate the relevant standards in existing international human rights law, humanitarian law, and analogous refugee law.

Since the Guiding Principles were presented to the Commission on Human Rights in 1998, they have been very well received by UN agencies, regional and non-governmental organizations, and Governments. While a number of Governments have questioned the manner in which they were developed and launched, and would have preferred their submission for formal consideration and adoption by Governments, the Principles, though not legally-binding, appear to be firmly established as valuable guidelines. What is particularly noteworthy is that the Principles are being actively used by Governments in the development of national law and policy and by international and regional organisations, NGOs and displaced communities. They are in particular being promoted at workshops and seminars, and training courses are being organised to guide organisations, Governments and displaced communities themselves on how best to respond to crises of internal displacement. Such developments notwithstanding, we have also maintained constructive dialogue with the concerned Governments to explore a common ground that would broaden and deepen support for the Principles.

With respect to institutional arrangements, the Secretary-General’s reform programme gave the Emergency Relief Coordinator, who heads the Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the responsibility of ensuring that the displaced are protected and assisted. A series of other measures included initially, the establishment of an inter-agency Task Force on Internally Displaced Persons, later succeeded by the more high profile Inter-Agency Network, with the function of mobilizing the operational agencies to be more effective on the ground. Early this year, an IDP Unit was established at OCHA, one of whose principal responsibilities is to undertake systematic reviews of countries with serious displacement crises, to assess international efforts to meet the assistance and protection needs of the internally displaced, and to make recommendation for improved response.

We have also pursued parallel efforts with regional and sub-regional organizations, specifically with the Organization of African Unity, now the African Union, the Organization of American States, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the Council of Europe. Promising contacts are underway for expanding cooperation with these and other regional and sub-regional organizations, in particular the Economic Community of West African States, the Commonwealth, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and others.

Mr. Chairman, among the pillars of the mandate which I regard as crucially important are country missions. These missions provide a means for assessing the extent to which the protection, assistance and development needs of the internally displaced are being met in specific situations and for engaging in solution-oriented dialogue with the governments and international and non-governmental organizations concerned. To date, I have undertaken 21 country missions in different regions of the world, most recently to Indonesia and Sudan. The findings of these missions and recommendations for addressing the plight of the internally displaced more effectively are set out in my reports to the Commission on Human Rights and the General Assembly, as well as to the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) and in press releases. Nonetheless, I would like to highlight today two issues that deserve greater international attention. The first is the need to create better institutional structures for the protection of the physical safety and human rights of internally displaced persons. Needless to say, this is an issue on which the High Commissioner for Human Rights and I have maintained close consultation with a view to enhancing our cooperation. It is my hope that the Office of the High Commissioner, the new OCHA IDP Unit and my Office will work closely together to try to address this issue as a matter of priority. Second is the need to address more effectively the shelter of internally displaced persons. Too many can be found in makeshift shelters, such as railroad cars, metal containers, even holes in the ground -- sometimes for years. Far more resources and focus are needed on this issue.

My latest missions to Indonesia and the Sudan, as is evident from my reports on those missions, are examples of the value and the potential of country missions and dialogue with Governments. In Indonesia, internal displacement is a new phenomenon and the Government is striving to respond to it, having formulated a policy aimed at ending displacement by the end of 2002 through several options for the displaced: return to areas of origin or resettlement and integration into the communities in which they now live. While welcoming the efforts of the Government to resolve this crisis, the time-frame for doing so appeared too optimistically short, leading us to urge first for the creation of appropriate conditions for implementing these options and for the international community to assist the Government of Indonesia in that regard.

Sudan is one of the countries most affected by the crisis of internal displacement, primarily caused by a chronic conflict that has raged since 1955, with only a ten year interval of precarious peace. Since I first visited the country in my official capacity in 1992, this last visit took the form of a follow-up mission. We were very well-received and we discussed extensively and intensely with the authorities at all levels and paid visits to displaced populations in several areas of that vast country. While we found improvements in the conditions of the displaced I had visited in 1992, the crisis remains grave and widespread. As a result of constructive dialogue with the authorities, we agreed to organize a workshop on the displacement situation in the country and that the Government would prepare a study outlining a comprehensive policy and strategy for dealing with the problem, to be presented to the workshop. On the suggestion of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, it has since been agreed that the workshop be organized at the sub-regional level of the countries of the IGAD which the Sudan currently chairs. It is our hope that these plans, which were welcomed by the General Assembly in its resolution on the human rights situation in Sudan, will be carried out as agreed.

More missions, to Turkey, Mexico and the Philippines are planned for this year and I am still hoping to receive an invitation to visit the Russian Federation in the near future. As I have reported previously, I have requested also a mission to the occupied Palestinian territories and am still awaiting a positive response from the Israeli authorities.

Finally, our work on the mandate has also involved the preparation of studies on internal displacement with the assistance of the Project on Internal Displacement at the Brookings Institution, which I co-direct with Roberta Cohen. Building on my initial study, and in response to a request by the Secretary-General, Ms. Cohen and I undertook a more elaborate study of the global crisis which was published in 1998 by the Brookings Institution in two volumes. The first volume, Masses in Flight: The Global Crisis of Internal Displacement contains a global overview of internal displacement, sets out the legal and institutional frameworks for addressing it, including by examining the role of the NGOs and regional organizations, and proposes strategies and recommendations for responding to the problem more effectively and comprehensively. The second volume, The Forsaken People, contains 10 case studies of crises and internal displacement in various regions of the world. An illustrated abridged version of the study entitled Exodus within Borders: An Introduction to the Crisis of Internal Displacement, also prepared at the request of the Secretary-General, was published in 1999. With the global crisis of internal displacement now well documented and better understood, our research agenda has sharpened its focus to concentrate on specific factors and problems facing the internally displaced and impeding effective responses to their plight.

Mr. Chairman, it is evident that we have come a long way, considering the sensitivity of the issue and the obstacles that were expected to stand in the way of international efforts on behalf of the internally displaced. On the other hand, the reality is that some 25 million people in over 40 countries around the world are still internally displaced, in desperate need of protection and assistance, and often inaccessible to the international community. We run the risk of becoming complacent with the normative and institutional frameworks now in place, instead of vigorously using them to provide the displaced of the world with an effective and comprehensive response to their needs.

The Guiding Principles, being the only normative framework focused on internal displacement, need consolidated support, promotion and application. It is perhaps too soon to judge the effectiveness of present institutional arrangements, which represent the minimum common denominator for international action on behalf of the internally displaced. But they also need to be supported and made effective on the ground. And while country missions have so far proven to be promising, we are mostly dealing with cooperative Governments that are prepared to extend invitations and engage in constructive dialogue with the Representative of the Secretary-General and other international officials. But there are still hard cases, where the needs of the displaced populations are particularly acute and the Governments are not receptive to international involvement.

Mr. Chairman, central to the debate on internal displacement has been the sensitive issue of national sovereignty. I believe that this is an issue that should be confronted in a positive and constructive manner. This is precisely what I have tried to do in my dialogue with governments, whether on a bilateral basis or in the pertinent bodies of the UN system and other regional organizations. My approach has been to recognize the problem of internal displacement as inherently internal and therefore under state sovereignty, to affirm respect for the sovereignty of the state, but to uphold sovereignty positively as a concept of responsibility for ensuring the protection and the general welfare of the citizens and all those under state jurisdiction if needs be, with a helping hand from the international community. Sovereignty should not be seen negatively as a barricade against international solidarity with people in need.

Precisely because of the restrictive view of sovereignty, the problem of internal displacement has been perceived as largely a humanitarian crisis and, to a limited extent, a human rights issue. It is, however, becoming increasingly apparent that what is involved in most cases is a fundamental crisis of national identity that goes to the heart of political, social, cultural and religious cleavages within a country that determine or influence who is protected and assisted, and who is neglected and even persecuted. The challenge this situation poses for the affected countries demands a major restructuring of the equations of power sharing and resource allocation to foster peace with justice, a mutual sense of belonging and an inclusive system of participation on equitable bases, without discrimination based on divisive factors.

Mr. Chairman, beyond the pressing need for protection and assistance, and reintegration and development aid, is the long-term challenge of human security and nation-building that ultimately must be confronted by the nationals of the country in question, but in which the international community can and should play a constructive role in accordance with the universalizing norms of human dignity.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, distinguished delegates, for your kind attention.