MIGRATION: The problem of the IDP's

Rasmusson and John Holmes, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, paid tribute to the African Union for its adoption last October of a Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa. Holmes called the convention "very significant" and "a major step forward". "It recognises that states have a duty to prevent displacement and a responsibility towards those displaced," he said at the report launch. "But the test will be whether the number of displaced is now reduced."Asked whether the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, should take responsibility for the welfare of IDPs, or whether a new international body was needed, Holmes said: "I think it is right for the UNHCR to take on more of this role." However, he recognised that there was some resistance within the organization and among donors to a dilution of its mandate. "We don't want the UNHCR to be confined to the static problem of refugees, while IDPs are a massively expanding problem," he added.On the implications of displacement, he said: "Displacement creates an unacceptable burden on the communities that host IDPs, many of whom are themselves in need of humanitarian or development assistance..."Furthermore, protracted displacement, and the marginalization that results, can have serious political, security and financial implications for national governments. As we have seen around the world, failure to resolve displacement inevitably undermines national efforts aimed at long-term peace and stability in post-crisis countries."
http://www.internal-displacement.org/