From Responsibility to Response: Assessing National - Brookings

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CHAPTER 3 Translating National Responsibility into Response: Further Observations Southern Sudan living in camps get more attention than all those who have crowded into informal settlements on the outskirts of Khartoum since the 1990s. In Iraq, it was the movement of IDPs into squatter settlements that seemed to trigger government action; when they lived dispersed and largely invisible among communities, it was perhaps easier for the government to ignore them. Similarly, if the 1 million displaced Kurds in Turkey had been concentrated in consolidated settlements, it is likely that the government would have been under more pressure to act than when it was they were dispersed in many communities and were all too easily dismissed as “economic migrants,” as the government did throughout the 1990s. And what if living in a camp essentially becomes a requirement for or at least a determining factor in receiving humanitarian assistance? In Yemen, the government is rightly criticized for focusing on and providing assistance only to IDPs in camps, although the draft national strategy on IDPs sets out, at least in principle, the importance of redressing the imbalance. In Georgia, just under half of IDPs were living in collective centers while the majority lived in private accommodations of different types, but it was the IDPs in the collective centers who came to epitomize the plight of IDPs in the country. Moreover, the IDPs living in private accommodations have been a major “blind spot” with respect to data collection. To be sure, the delivery of services is by and large logistically easier when populations are in concentrated groups (though when camps are overcrowded, security and other issues can easily occur during assistance delivery). However, under international law, as reflected in the Guiding Principles, the rights of IDPs certainly are not contingent on their living in a certain location. The issue of camps is further complicated by problems in defining what constitutes a camp. In Iraq only 1 percent of IDPs lived in camps, but many more of the almost 3 million IDPs (at the height of displacement) lived either in squatter settlements or in public buildings. In Myanmar, about 25 percent of conflict-displaced IDPs lived in government-run camps while 20 percent lived 310 in camps or settlements administered by ethnic authorities. Similarly, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, while 2 percent of the country’s 3.5 million IDPs lived in camps administered by UNHCR, the figure jumped to 33 percent when informal settlements were included. That gives rise to the question of what a camp or settlement is—is it defined by the fact that IDPs live in distinct concentrations with other IDPs? Or is it that someone—the government or, for example, UNHCR— takes responsibility for the settlement? 6 UNHCR Engagement In the introduction to this volume, we posited that UNHCR engagement with IDPs could be related to the exercise of government responsibility because UNHCR seeks to support government response. UNHCR has a long history of engaging with IDPs, although until the last decade, most of that involvement was ad hoc, depending on needs, whether UNHCR was present in the country working with refugees, whether there was a formal request from the UN Secretary-General and whether resources were available. 7 Following the 6 Note that the Global Cluster on Camp Management and Coordination explicitly states that it is involved in all types of camps and settlements for both conflict- and disaster-induced displacement, including planned camps, collective centers, self-settled camps and reception/ transit centers (http://oneresponse.info/GlobalClusters/ Camp%20Coordination%20Management/Pages/default. aspx). 7 See the various real-time evaluations of UNHCR’s IDP operations by the office’s Policy Development and Evaluation Service and IDP Advisory Team (for example, on operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Eastern Chad, and Uganda). See also the following key UNHCR policy documents pertaining to its role in situations of internal displacement: UNHCR’s Operational Experience with Internally Displaced Persons, September 1994; UNHCR’s Role in IASC Humanitarian Reform Initiatives and in the Strengthening of the Inter- Agency Collaborative Response to Internally Displaced Persons Situations, 20 September 2005; UNHCR’s Expanded Role in Support of the Inter-Agency Response to Internal Displacement Situations, 36th Meeting of the Standing Committee, 8 June 2006 (EC/57/SC/CRP.18); UNHCR’s Expanded Role in Support of the Inter-Agency
CHAPTER 3 Translating National Responsibility into Response: Further Observations implementation of humanitarian reform initiatives in 2005, UNHCR was designated the cluster lead in the areas of protection, camp management and coordination, and emergency shelter in conflict situations, so its involvement has since become more systematic and visible. While UNHCR generally tries to strengthen the government’s capacity to respond to internal displacement, including by supporting data collection and the development of laws and policies, its support needs to be finely balanced. It must keep the role of the government front and center in order to ensure that its support does not veer into substitution for government action; otherwise, UNHCR involvement risks absolving governments of their responsibility. One of the difficulties in collecting data on this indicator is that UNHCR has different forms of engagement. The earliest record of UNHCR involvement with IDPs appears in the case of Sudan, where it was involved in assisting IDPs in 1972, when its activities focused on providing assistance but not protection to IDPs. 8 As shown in figure 3-4 below, UNHCR involvement with Response to Internal Displacement Situations, Informal Consultation Meeting, 12 September 2006; The Protection of Internally Displaced Persons and the Role of UNHCR, 27 February 2007; 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, 25 May 2007; Policy Framework and Implementation Strategy: UNHCR’s Role in Support of an Enhanced Inter- Agency Response to the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons, 4 June, 2007; Real-Time Evaluations of UNHCR’s Involvement in Operations for Internally Displaced Persons and the Cluster Approach: Analysis of Findings, 29 August 2007 (EC/58/SC/CRP.23); UNHCR’s Role in Support of the Return and Reintegration of Displaced Populations: Policy Framework and Implementation Strategy, 11 February 2008 (EC/59/SC/CRP.5). All documents are available at UNHCR’s website (www.unhcr.org). 8 On the evolution and history of humanitarian agencies’ engagement in protection the world over, see Elizabeth Ferris, The Politics of Protection (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press), 2011. 311 IDPs in some of the countries surveyed had already begun in the 1990s: in Sri Lanka (1988), Afghanistan (1992), Georgia (1993) and Colombia (1998), followed by UNHCR’s involvement in Yemen in 2009 which represented involvement in a relatively new displacement situation. In cases in which the cluster approach has been applied, UNHCR has assumed lead responsibility for IDP protection in Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Figure 3-4. Year of earliest UNHCR involvement with IDPs in the 15 countries assessed in this study e Country Year Afghanistan 1992 Central African Republic 2006 Colombia 1998 Democratic Republic of the Congo 1999 Georgia 1993 Iraq 1991 Kenya 2008 Myanmar 2006 Nepal 2006 Pakistan 2008 Sri Lanka 1988 Sudan 1972 (South Sudan) Turkey 1974 Uganda 1979 Yemen 2007 e Source for Afghanistan, Georgia, Iraq, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Turkey and Uganda: UNHCR, UNHCR’s Operational Experience with Internally Displaced Persons, September 1994 (www.unhcr.org/ refworld/docid/3ae6b3400.html); Central African Republic and Nepal: UNCHR Statistical Yearbook 2006; Democratic Republic of the Congo in: UNHCR Global Report 1999; Kenya and Pakistan: UNHCR Statistical Yearbook 2008; Myanmar and Yemen: UNHCR Statistical Yearbook 2007; Colombia: “UNHCR field office opens in Colombia,” 7 December 1999 (www.unhcr. org/3ae6b82130.html) and Frédérique Prunera, “Personnes déplacées en Colombie et personnes d’origine colombienne cherchant refuge dans les pays voisins,” [“Displaced Persons in Colombia and Colombian Refugees in Neighboring Countries”], Revue internationale de la Croix-Rouge [International Review of the Red Cross], no. 843 (September 2001), p. 769.
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The Brookings Institution - London
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From Responsibility to Response: As
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CONTENTS Acronyms .................
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ACRONYMS AIHRC Afghanistan Independ
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FOREWORD It is with great pleasure
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Given the large num
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It is a central tenet of internatio
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legislation relevant to IDPs. Still
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amend existing ones, in line with t
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Background and Aims of the Study In
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displacement persists for several y
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operationalizing the responsibiliti
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Therefore, it is not surprising tha
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Azerbaijani, Chinese, French, Portu
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National Initiatives In Iraq, IOM p
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of the country. 62 In addition, six
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in French and Spanish depending on
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serves only to supplant and absolve
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CHAPTER 1 Assessing National Approa
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Benchmark 1 Benchmark 1 Prevent Dis
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Benchmark 1 Prevent Displacement an
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Benchmark 2 Raise National Awarenes
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Conclusion Benchmark 2 Raise Nation
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Benchmark 3 Data Collection on Inte
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—Current location and location of
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its registration rolls intra-urban
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and profiling of three types of IDP
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the government of Afghanistan under
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Benchmark 4 Training on the Rights
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actions of DRC authorities and nong
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the provision of technical support
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Justice, National Cohesion and Cons
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February 2010; one outcome of the t
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Benchmark 5 Ensure a Legal Framewor
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Conclusion Benchmark 5 Ensure a Leg
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Benchmark 6 Develop a National Poli
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Benchmark 7 Designate an Institutio
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not necessarily influence such chan
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Institutional mandate and responsib
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this body include preparing “stra
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lead state agency may turn to other
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a division of functions being made
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Benchmark 8 Benchmark 8 Support NHR
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Benchmark 8 Support NHRIs to Integr
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Benchmark 9 Facilitate IDPs’ Part
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The process of participation is gen
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Georgia represents an especially in
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about the national policy. 16 Sudan
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and reinforce durable solutions. 27
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was 12 million, or 62 percent of th
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displacement. 52 In the run-up to t
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vote is by no means consistent (for
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Benchmark 10 Establish the Conditio
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Benchmark 11 Allocate Adequate Reso
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also ordered the National Council f
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In Sri Lanka, 16 it is difficult to
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Conclusion As indicated in the intr
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Benchmark 12 Cooperation with Inter
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North Darfur, Sudan/ A woman collec
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CHAPTER 2 Case Studies Georgia, Ken
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Georgia From Solidarity to Solution
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Kenya National Response to Internal
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