From Responsibility to Response: Assessing National - Brookings

CHAPTER 1 Assessing National Approaches to Internal Displacement: Findings from 15 Countries
needs, in particular the need for food security in camps,
livelihood development for returnees, and improved
infrastructure and basic services in both camps and
return areas. The policy designates the Department
of Disaster Preparedness and Refugees as the conduit
for IDP-related information and obligates the Ministry
of Information to provide “free broadcasting of information
relating to assistance to IDPs.” 4 However, the
International Organization for Migration (IOM) predicted
in 2005 that the demanding technical and maintenance
requirements of such a system would encumber
its implementation. 5 Uganda has demonstrated regional
leadership on the issue of IDPs through its hosting of
the first Africa Union summit focused on refugees and
IDPs in Africa in October 2009 and through its key
role in negotiations that led to the adoption in 2009 of
the African Union Convention for the Protection and
Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa
(Kampala Convention).
The government of Iraq at the highest level has acknowledged
the existence of conflict-induced internal
displacement and its responsibility to address it as a national
priority. This is evident in Iraq’s National Policy
on Displacement (2008) which addresses pre- and post-
2003 displacement and which includes provisions for
promoting dialogue for national reconciliation and for
ensuring IDPs’ access to information on humanitarian
assistance, social assistance and durable solutions. The
policy specifies channels of communication: local and
national government offices, local and national media,
community-based organizations, nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs), mosques, and information centers.
6 The government’s commitment to addressing the
internal displacement of Iraqis in 2006 and 2007 is also
4 Uganda’s National Policy for IDPs, § 5.1
5 International Organization for Migration, Uganda:
6
Internally Displaced Persons in the 2006 National Elections,
IOM Project on Political Rights and Enfranchisement
System Strengthening (PRESS), May 2005, p. 38 (www.
geneseo.edu/~iompress/Archive/Outputs/Uganda_
Action%20Plan_PRESS_May_05.pdf).
Article 6(8) (www.brookings.edu/projects/idp/Laws-and-
Policies/iraq.aspx).
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evident in Council of Ministers Decree 262 and Prime
Minister Order 101 to facilitate property recovery in
the Baghdad governorate, and Order 58, which extends
those measures to the Diyala governorate (most IDPs
originate from these two governorates). In addition,
the prime minister and high-level officials have made
public statements recognizing the issue of IDPs and
their responsibility to address it. For example, in a joint
statement issued in November 2009 by Ambassador
Sadiq Rikabi, political adviser to the prime minister of
Iraq and Iraqi coordinator for refugees and IDPs, and
high-level U.S. administration officials, the officials
recognized that Iraq is responsible for matters pertaining
to its citizens and agreed to cooperate with one
another and with other relevant actors, including IOM
and UNHCR, on a series of steps to assist Iraqi IDPs
and refugees. 7 More recently, in January 2011 Iraq’s
deputy minister of migration and displacement spoke
of a plan to resolve the problem of internally displaced
persons within a year and to create durable conditions
for the return and reintegration of IDPs and refugees.
However, a predecessor of the deputy minister observed
that while the plan “looks good on paper,” there had not
been an effort to involve other relevant ministries and
security agencies. 8
In Georgia, the government at the highest levels acknowledges
the occurrence of internal displacement resulting
from conflicts concerning Abkhazia and South
Ossetia and its responsibility to address displacement as
a national priority. The subject of IDPs and related government
initiatives are regularly highlighted in the president’s
annual state of the union address, and the government
has promoted the issue of IDPs at international
and regional forums. However, as the case study in this
7 The U.S. officials were Eric Schwartz, U.S. Assistant
Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration,
and Samantha Power, senior director at the National
Security Council and White House coordinator for Iraqi
refugees and IDPs.
8 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, “Iraq Drafts Plan To
Help IDPs, Refugees,” 26 January 2011 (www.rferl.org/
content/iraq_plan_help_idp_refugees/2287542.html).