Sara Lopez

Massey-Jimenez

ENC1101

29 November 2017

Final Essay Outline

Introduction: There are many things that we take for granted on a daily basis such as

safety, housing, food, water and other basic needs. However, millions of people around the world

do not have any of these things or go through a lot of trouble to achieve them. These people are

known as Internally displaced persons or IDPs who are people that have been displaced or forced

to leave their original homes but remain within their country. The purpose of this topic is to raise

awareness of the ongoing issue that grows larger by the day and to bring attention to the situation

that these people find themselves in which includes the lack of or complete absence of health

care, education, shelter and government assistance amongst other things.

I. Topic Sentence: There are many factors that come into play when a person becomes

an Internally Displaced Person.

A. Research undertaken in 2016 identified a wide range of factors driving internal

displacement in Guatemala: violence, extortion and threats; organised crime and narco

trafficking; the expansion of large-scale business activities (such as the cultivation of

sugarcane and oil palm, cattle raising, mining and hydroelectricity production); and

natural and climate-related events, (Hernandez 38).

B. Internally displaced persons are persons or groups of persons who have been forced or

obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a

result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized

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violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have

not crossed an internationally recognized State border, (Shultz 13).

C. Displacement in Kenya can be traced to a variety of sources which have forced Kenyans

to move away from their habitual places of residence in search of safety: the colonial

thirst for land, the punishing effects of global warming, development-related

displacement, clan clashes, cattle rustling and politically motivated violence, (Kiama

and Koome 92).

D. Issues ranging from poverty, unemployment, conflict, violence, sicknesses and diseases,

to environmental degradation, natural disasters, domestic violence, transnational crimes,

and human rights abuses constitute factors which cause insecurity in individuals thereby

leading to displacement of these persons from their habitual homes, (Ejiofor 20).

II. Topic Sentence: Due to all the stress and hardships that IDPs go through on a daily

basis, many of them develop some form of psychological and physical traumas.
A. IDPs are a particularly vulnerable population, having been forced to flee their homes

and enduring physical and emotional trauma before or during their flight, (Malley no

page number).

B. Studies conducted among adults IDPs in the same camp indicated 42% of the 258 adults

IDPs had a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with more than half

experiencing 1115 traumatic events, (Asaheik vol 7 pp 176).

C. Great concerns have been generated by both local and international agencies due to the

poor living conditions of these persons which in turn, leads to poor sanitations therefore

raise in sicknesses and diseases. Importantly, internally displaced persons become

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dependent on others for basic amenities either on the host community or external

intervention, (Ejiofor 20).

D. The tortuous journey from expulsion through all phases of relocation and resettlement

involves significant loss and trauma with attendant high risks for developing debilitating

psychological disorders, (Shultz 22).

III. Topic Sentence: IDPs suffer from the lack of basic daily needs as well as more serious

needs.
A. Those displaced face immense challenges in meeting their basic needs. This study

sought to characterize internal displacement in Syria, including trends in both time

and place, and to provide insights on the association between displacement and

selected measures of household well-being and humanitarian needs, (Shannon 33).

B. The Office simultaneously continues to meet the urgent humanitarian needs of IDPs

through providing food, clean water, shelter, health care, and protection services,

(Malley no page number).

C. The argument here is based on a simple assumption: if IDPs are to return, then they

need a place to which they can return. Therefore, they not only need to be granted the

right to return; they also need their property rights to be restored, or in cases where

property rights did not exist prior to conflict, granted, (Sert 227).

D. Once displaced, Colombian IDPs are unable to find safe refuge and they must adjust

to the hardships of marginal urban existence while living in environments of danger,

health threat, and exposure to violence, (Shultz 22).

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IV. Topic Sentence: Governments provide little to no assistance to IDPs which make their

struggles even harder.

A. Internally displaced persons receive little or no attention from the government of their

habitual residence. These persons leave their comfort for a life of uncertainty elsewhere

which triggers insecurity from within them coupled with the minimal attention received

from government thereby exposing these people to economic threats, health threats,

personal threats, political threats, environmental threats and community threats, (Ejiofor

20).

B. There are many reasons that promote internal forced displacement in Guatemala, yet

there is little State recognition of the underlying problems. Those displaced by violence

live in constant fear of being found by the perpetrators of violence, and consequently

mistrust other people and public officials, (Hernandez 39).

C. Findings indicate that while displacement often corresponds to conflict levels, such

trends were not uniformly observed in governorate-level analysis. Governorate level IDP

estimates do not provide information on a scale detailed enough to adequately plan

humanitarian assistance. Furthermore, such estimates are often influenced by obstructed

access to certain areas, unsubstantiated reports, and substantial discrepancies in reporting.

Secondary displacement is not consistently reported across sources nor are additional

details about displacement, including whether displaced individuals originated within the

current governorate or outside of the governorate, (Shannon 33).

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D. However, because IDPs dont cross international borders they are not considered

refugees and therefore do not receive the same protection provided to refugees by

international law, (Malley no page number).

V. Statistics show how many people are affected by internal displacement.

A. Today, 28.8 million people are displaced within their home countries due to conflict and

violencethe highest number ever recorded by the IDMC. This is due in large part to

the conflicts in Syria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). More than 6.5

million of these people were newly displaced in 2012, almost twice as many as the year

before, (Malley no page number).

B. A postelection violent conflict in Kaduna resulted in 800 deaths and 65,000 displaced

people leading to setting up of camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs), (Asaheik

vol 7 pp 179).

C. Globally, almost one-in-five IDPs reside in Colombia. Estimated at 5.7 million in 2013,

Colombias IDP population accounts for 19% of the worldwide total, (Shultz14).

Conclusion: In conclusion, IDPs face a myriad of problems on a daily basis that range from

basic needs to more serious issues such as healthcare and protection. Most governments are

doing little to help in this issue that continues to grow by the day and it is clear that they need to

put in more effort. These people are constantly suffering through these hardships and stress since
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they never have protection and, because of this, they always have to be fearful for their families

safety and they also have to live in dangerous areas because they do not have sufficient funds or

the protection necessary.