A House with Two Rooms - The Advocates for Human Rights

Programs for Vulnerable Groups: Internally Displaced Persons
Displacement was a defining characteristic of the Liberian civil wars, with hundreds of thousands
displaced over time. The U.N. Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, as well as relevant treaty
body documents, provide a guiding framework for the effective promotion and protection of the
human rights of internally displaced persons. The U.N. principles note that national authorities hold
the primary responsibility for rendering humanitarian aid to internally displaced persons. 117 The
Advocates recommends the following:
• The Government of Liberia should provide
internally displaced persons with protection
and humanitarian aid, without persecution or
punishment for such requests for assistance,
and taking into account the needs of
vulnerable internally displaced populations,
including children, unaccompanied children,
pregnant women, disabled persons and the
elderly, females with children, or heads of
households. 118
• The Government of Liberia should ensure
that humanitarian aid for displaced persons
is rendered without discrimination and is not
diverted to political or military purposes. 119
• The police force of Liberia should have an
explicit mandate in national law to protect
civilians, including internally displaced
persons and humanitarian aid providers. 121
• The Government of Liberia should enact
legislation which recognizes internally
displaced persons’ right to freedom of
movement and the right of all internally
displaced persons to make a voluntary and
informed choice between return, integration
at the location of displacement, or resettlement
or relocation in another part of the country. 122
• The Government of Liberia should provide
information to internally displaced persons
regarding the viability of return, local
integration, and resettlement or relocation
options. To facilitate an internally displaced
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Chapter Fourteen
Potential Implementation Strategy:
Clear Policies for Providing Humanitarian
Assistance to the Displaced
The Government of Liberia should:
1. Assign to relevant authorities or
organizations at the national and local
levels clear and specific obligations in
the area of humanitarian assistance to
internally displaced persons, and provide
them with the necessary means to do so.
2. Establish mechanisms and procedures
to identify beneficiaries of humanitarian
assistance on the basis of need and
particular vulnerability.
3. Determine criteria for the delivery
of humanitarian goods and services in
accordance with recognized international
minimum standards.
4. Eliminate any obstacles hindering the
provision of humanitarian goods from
domestic sources.
5. Facilitate the import and internal
transport of humanitarian goods not
sufficiently available domestically.
6. Provide for the criminalization of attacks
by state as well as non-state actors against
humanitarian relief personnel and their
material, transport, and supplies when such
attacks would amount to a war crime under
the Rome Statute. 120