Lopez

Sara Lopez

Massey-Jimenez

ENC1101

10 December 2017

Internal Displacement: A Humanitarian Crisis

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.

There are many factors that come into play when a person becomes an Internally

Displaced Person. These factors are violence, extortion and threats, organized crime, the

expansion of large scale business activities, narco trafficking, and natural and climate related

events. People are forced to leave their homes because, in many cases, they are trying to escape

from these factors and in the case of narco trafficking and the expansion of business activities,

they are demanded to leave their homes by people who want to use their land for something else

or just want it for themselves. In Colombia specifically, landslides are extremely common so the
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people who live in the mountainous regions are often time forced to leave their homes because of

this. Aside from all the factor that have been previously mentioned, Ejiofor states that there are

even more issues that lead to Internal Displacement such as poverty, unemployment, sickness

and diseases, human rights abuses, and environmental degradation. (20)

IDPs suffer from the lack of basic daily needs as well as more serious needs. This issue is

a humanitarian crisis because Internally Displaced Persons have to face immense challenges

trying to provide for themselves and for their families. They have to provide their basic needs

such as food, clean water, shelter, health care, and protection services. (Malley no page

number). Even though IDPs would like to return to their original homes, they cant because they

dont have a home to return to. 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) This means that if IDPs are told that they can return to their

original homes, then they have to have a home to which they can return. Otherwise, if they did

not have property rights before they were displaced, then it should be granted.

As previously mentioned, internal displacement could occur due to factors such as natural

disasters and armed conflict. The difference between these two types of displacement is that

people who are displaced due to natural disasters can eventually return to their homes. However,

people that have been displaced due to armed conflict can never return to their homes and this

follows their entire family, even their descendants.

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The reason why IDPs have trouble providing for their basic needs is because, once

displaced, 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) IDPs cannot find safe refuge because wherever they go, they are exposed

to violence, gangs, and other things that make it hard, if not impossible, to provide for

themselves. There are also many cases where they have to move several times before they can

find safety. 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.

IDPs are a vulnerable population due to physical and emotional traumas because of being

forced to flee their homes and enduring harsh situations. In a series of studies that were

conducted in a camp of IDPs, 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
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7 pp 176) Also according to Asaheik, large percentages of IDPs suffer from various types of

psychological disorders such as distress, anxiety, and depression. Due to all of the situations that

IDPs go through and their poor living conditions, there are many cases of poor sanitation which

leads to a rise in sickness and diseases. All of these events from relocation to resettlement

involves significant loss and trauma for the IDPs which can leave them prone to developing

debilitating psychological disorders. This shows that not only do IDPs struggle with trying to

find safety and provide for their basic needs, they also struggle with many types of mental

disorders without the ability to seek help for them.

Statistics show how many people are affected by internal displacement. Today, 28.8

million people are displaced within their home countries due to conflict and violencethe

highest number ever recorded by the IDMC. (Malley no page number) Even though internal

displacement is caused by many factors as previously mentioned, the biggest one is not

environmental. It is violence and conflict that affects IDPs the most because it leaves them with

both psychological and physical traumas. Internal Displacement can occur through ones own

will or by force. In many cases, it happens through ones own will in order to avoid violence and

conflict. As stated by Asaheik, 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). (vol 7 pp 179) This shows how a single conflict ended with so many people displaced

because they did not want to be affected by the dangers.

Governments provide little to no assistance to IDPs which make their struggles even

harder. internal displacement is an ongoing problem caused by both conflict and the government
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itself because the government is guilty for failing to protect their citizens from and during

displacement, even going as far as to force it themselves. Since these people are forced to leave

their comfort zone, they live their lives in state of uncertainty and this triggers insecurity within

them. Due to the lack of attention from the government, this scenario can leave IDPs exposed to

various kinds of threats such as economic, personal, political, environmental, and community

threats. Because of these threats and violence, people live in constant fear of being found by

those who displaced them or being displaced again. This leads the people to become mistrusting

of others and of public officials because they do not know whether they would hurt them or not.

Even though there is some data or information on the state of the IDPs population, there

is not enough on a scale that is sufficiently detailed to plan any type of humanitarian assistance.

It is clear that the governments of affected countries are responsible for the lack of information

that is provided to the media and organizations. 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). A prime example of

the lack of importance that has been given to the IDPs situation in general is that there are 48

countries with internally displaced populations, there is only information on 32 of those countries

that have been officially recorded in the database. (Sert 227)

Governments choose to hide the reality of the IDPs situation in their countries so that it

doesnt reflect poorly on their image. This is why they do not report accurate or detailed
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information because they do not want to be seen as incompetent or irresponsible towards the

situation. As stated by Malley, 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. (no page number) This shows that governments dont pay attention to IDPs

because they are not refugees and are considered to be less of a priority do to the fact they

remain within the country.

According to Ejiofor, the number of internally displaced person has risen tremendously

and that if the government does not take the appropriate measures to protect this population then

the safety of the entire country could go down. (20) This is a big reason why governments need

to step up and start acknowledging as well as assisting the citizens in their country who are

affected by internal displacement so that everyone in general can remain protected. The

governments do not pay attention to a major trigger of internal displacement in their countries

which are the violent groups who cause this displacement in order to gain the land of the

affected. This lack of attention gives these groups the chance to continue to displace and to cause

more harm.

In Kenya, there has never been any laws that directly focus on creating permanent

solutions for the IDPs. However, in 2007-2008, there was an attempt to do so when the

government establish the return home campaign. (Kiama and Koom 92) Its purpose was to

give those affected by displacement payments in order to help them go back to their original

homes. Unfortunately, this solution was not long lasting and other organizations ended up

stepping in to bridge the gap. Many countries who have internally displaced populations may
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work towards finding or creating a solution but it has never been enough to fully provide for and

protect the IDPs. That is why assistance from other organizations can be useful in order to

accomplish these goals for the populations.

An organization known as USAID acknowledges the situation that IDPs find themselves

in on a daily basis and they provide assistance in various fields. These fields are, as previously

mentioned, shelter, clean water, food, and many more. They offer these services in moderation

and as needed so that the affected do not become dependent on it. This organization sets an

example for helping IDPs by creating and revising their policy so that the United States can have

a good response towards the situation and so that they can have resources available to assist.

(Malley no page number)

I want to raise awareness of this situation so that people can know how serious internal

displacement is and that it is constantly increasing without being addressed. The government of

each country that are affected by this type of displacement should be more proactive about it, but

they are not. This is why I want to make others aware of this situation and point out how the

governments act towards it. In order to fix this problem, the governments of affected countries,

like Colombia, should make an effort to genuinely help IDPs and provide protection, aid, and

assistance as they once promised yet never delivered. Sometimes, we may think we are going

through a hard time but we must remember that there are other people, such as the IDPs, that are

going through worse experiences than us. We should do our best to help out any way we can

because, even though it is not affecting us directly, it is affecting people like us.
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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 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.
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Work Cited Page

Asaheik, Taiwo Lateef, et al. Descriptive Characterization of Psycho-Trauma, Psychological

Distress and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Among Children and Adolescent Internally

Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Kaduna, Northwestern Nigeria. Frontiers in Psychiatry, July

2016. DOAJ, doi:10.3389.

Doocy Shannon, et al. Internal Displacement and The Syrian Crisis: An Analysis of Trends

From 2011-2014. Conflict and Health, no. 9, 1 Oct. 2015, p. 33. PMC, doi:10.1186/s13031-

015-0060-7.

Ejiofor, Onaedo c, et al. An Assessment of the Impact of Internal Displacement on Human

Security in Northern Nigeria (2009- 2016). Acta Universitatis Danubius: Relationes

Internationales, vol. 10, no. 1, 1 July 2011, pp. 1942. DOAJ.

Hernandez, Sindy Bonilla. Triggers of Internal Displacement in Guatemala. Forced

Migration Review, no. 56, Oct. 2017, pp. 3839. DOAJ.

Kiama, Lucy, and Fredrick Koome. Internal Displacement in Kenya: the Quest for Durable

Solutions. Forced Migration Review, no. 45, 1 Feb. 2014, pp. 9294. DOAJ.

Malley, Anita. Troubling Trend: IDP Numbers Due to Conflict, Violence at All-Time High |

USAID Impact. USAID Impact Photo Credit: USAID and Partners, USAID, 30 May
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2013, blog.usaid.gov/2013/05/troubling-trend-idp-numbers-due-to-conflict/.

Sert, Deniz S. Internal Displacement: Return, Property, Economy. International Migration,

vol. 52, no. 5, ser. 1, Oct. 2014, pp. 227244. EDBSCO, doi:10.1111/j.1468-

2435.2010.00629.x.

Shultz, James M, et al. Internal Displacement in Colombia. Disaster Health, vol. 2, no. 1, Jan.

2014, pp. 1324. PMC, doi:10.4161/dish.27885.