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The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognises that forced displacement is one of the main threats to development. It states that internally displaced persons (IDPs) must be empowered and their needs taken into account by governments, and it commits all…

The bedrock of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement is the notion of ‘sovereignty as responsibility’.[1] Internal displacement – being by definition a phenomenon that occurs within a State’s borders and that most often affects its nationals – must be…

The 2013 National Policy on Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Afghanistan was intended to help strengthen the national response to the growing number of IDPs across Afghanistan.[1] The objective was for the new policy to become the point of reference…

In the year of the 20th anniversary of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement it is worth reflecting on the central role of property rights at every stage of the displacement cycle. Fair, transparent and objective property laws which guarantee…

Armed non-State actors (ANSAs) are present in most countries where there are high levels of internal displacement and have in many cases themselves forcibly displaced people.[1] They control territory where internally displaced persons (IDPs) live, sometimes ‘manage’ camps, and can…

There are currently over 2.8 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ethiopia, compared with an estimated 291,000 in July 2012.[1] Drought, floods, ethnic/clan tensions and conflicts over resources and borders are the leading causes of internal displacement, with conflict accounting…

The Guiding Principles broadly reinforce general human rights law by serving as a kind of bill of rights for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and by outlining the responsibilities of States and other actors. In this sense they mainly reaffirm the…