NOVEMBER- DECEMBER 2021

COVER STORY
Internally displaced persons in South Sudan
to address most of these challenges has
drastically diminished, as evidenced
by limited engagement by international
actors to move beyond the provision
of humanitarian assistance; and lack
of dedicated financial resources aimed
at addressing protracted displacement
or preventing new displacement from
becoming protracted.
International law has reaffirmed
that states have certain obligations
towards their citizens, and they cannot
treat their population as they wish with
impunity in the name of sovereignty.
States are required to extend protection
to such vulnerable groups of people
displaced within their countries without
discrimination.
Indeed, it is based on this recognition
of state obligation that the doctrine
of responsibility to protect emerged.
The doctrine recognises the primary
responsibility of states and calls upon them
to take all measures to fulfil this duty by
protecting their own people against atrocity
crimes, including war crimes, crimes
against humanity or genocide. A right to
be protected from human rights violations
and atrocity crimes also extends to those
displaced.
There are a wide range of international
and regional legal instruments that govern
forced displacement. Most notably the
1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status
of Refugees, which defines a refugee as a
person who, owing to well-founded fear
of being persecuted for reasons of race,
religion, nationality, membership of a
particular social group or political opinion,
is outside the country of his nationality
and is unable or, owing to such fear, is
unwilling to avail himself of the protection
of that country.
This Convention has subsequently been
complemented by the 1967 Additional
Protocol and the 1969 Organisation of
African Unity Convention that expanded
the definition of a refugee to include not
only those fleeing persecution but also
those who flee their homelands “owing to
external aggression, occupation, foreign
domination or events seriously disturbing
public order.”
Drawing on international refugee,
human rights, and humanitarian law,
myriad legal and institutional framework
have evolved over time to cover a
‘
In Tigray, more than a
million people have been
displaced
’
widening array of persons in need of
assistance and protection. Humanitarian
and human rights laws, in conjunction with
the example set by the OAU Convention
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