Resolving Internal Displacement: Prospects for Local Integration
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RESOLVING INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT: PROSPECTS FOR LOCAL INTEGRATION The Brookings Institution – London School of Economics Project on Internal Displacement June 2011 BROOKINGS RESOLVING INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT: PrOSPECTS FOR LOCAL INTEGRATION EdITED BY ELIZABETH FErrIS June 2011 PUBLISHED BY: THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION – LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS PROJECT ON INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword ....................................................................................................................................................... 3 Chaloka Beyani Prologue ........................................................................................................................................................ 4 Elizabeth Ferris and Kate Halff List of Acronyms ......................................................................................................................................... 6 Local Integration of Internally Displaced Persons in Protracted Displacement: Some Observations .................................................................................................................................. 7 Elizabeth Ferris and Nadine Walicki CASE STUDIES Securing the Right to Stay: Local Integration of IDPs in Burundi ....................................... 24 Greta Zeender Colombian IDPs In Protracted Displacement: Is Local Integration A Solution? ........... 41 Patricia Weiss Fagen Part protracted, part progress: Durable solutions for IDPs through local integration in Georgia .................................................................................................................. 61 Nadine Walicki Protracted Internal Displacement and Integration in Serbia ................................................. 82 Rhodri C. Williams Still a Long Way to Go: Local Integration of IDPs in Yei, Southern Sudan ..................... 105 Nina Sluga A Sort of Homecoming...Local Integration in Northern Uganda ........................................... 126 Michelle Berg 3 FOREWOrd am delighted to introduce this collection of case studies on Resolving Protracted Internal Displacement: Prospects for Local Integration. The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement affirm that displacement should last no I longer than necessary, but the reality is that millions of the world’s internally displaced persons (IDPs) have been displaced for many years. Governments, international actors and IDPs alike have all emphasized return as the most desired settlement option and yet often the possibilities for return are elusive. People deserve a chance to get on with their lives, even as they leave open the possibility of return when conditions back home permit. While the choice of durable solutions must be an informed and voluntary one by IDPs, I believe that more emphasis needs to be placed on local integration as a settlement option through which IDPs may achieve a durable solution. The seminar organized by the Brookings-Bern (now the Brookings-LSE) Project on Internal Displacement and the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) of the Norwegian Refugee Council in collaboration with UNHCR and UNDP was an important opportunity to review the state of knowledge about local integration, to analyze obstacles and consider best practices in supporting local integration as a solution in cases of protracted internal displacement. The seminar concluded that political will is needed to make local integration a viable pos- sibility for IDPs and that the efforts of both humanitarian and development actors must be mobilized to create conditions for sustainable integration. The case studies on protracted displacement and possibilities for local integration offer valuable insights for IDPs, local and national authorities, humanitarian and development actors, NGOs and civil society, and academic re- searchers. The cases of Burundi, Colombia, Georgia, Serbia, Sudan and Uganda are all unique with particular po- litical, economic and social contexts. There is no single recipe for resolving displacement in these diverse contexts. Rather flexible approaches are needed to explore the possibility of IDPs finding durable solutions through local integration in these and other cases. I commend the authors of these studies for their research and the seminar or- ganizers for putting together this volume which seeks to disseminate the research findings beyond those who were able to participate in the seminar. Supporting durable solutions for IDPs is central to my mandate as Special Rapporteur for the Human Rights of IDPs. I hope that these studies will be widely read and discussed and that they will trigger new ideas for support- ing IDPs who wish to integrate locally – even if they maintain the hope to return to their homes and communities when circumstances allow. Chaloka Beyani UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons 4 PROLOGUE hile the world’s attention often gravitates to the latest emergency situation, we are acutely aware that most of the world’s internally displaced persons (IDPs) live in protracted displacement. Displacement Wdrags on, sometimes for years or decades, because of continuing conflict, because peace processes are stalled, or because political settlements fail to provide the necessary security and support for the displaced to find solutions. In 2007, the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees organized an Expert Seminar on Protracted IDP Situations which brought together representatives of UN and other international organizations, NGOs and academic experts to explore possible solutions to protracted displacement. Participants agreed that much more attention is needed to explore the possibilities for IDPs to find solutions through local integration in the areas to which they have been displaced.1 Three years later, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) of the Norwegian Refugee Council sug- gested that it was time to organize a follow-up seminar and suggested that it focus particularly on local integration. Staff of IDMC and the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement soon agreed that such a seminar should be based on concrete cases of protracted displacement and that participation in the seminar should be broader than international experts. Over the course of a few months, plans for the seminar expanded with the active collaboration of UNHCR and UNDP. Six cases were identified for in-depth analysis: Burundi, Colombia, Georgia, Serbia, Su- dan, and Uganda. Researchers were identified to carry out field research to explore the possibilities and the obstacles to local integration. It was also agreed that in organizing the seminar, representatives of governments, civil society and UN staff from most of the case study countries would be invited and that the focus would be on identifying concrete measures and good practices to facilitate the possibility of local integration for IDPs who wished to settle in their area of displacement whose lives had been in limbo for many years. The 2nd Expert Seminar on Protracted Internal Displacement was held in Geneva from 19-20 January 2011 on the theme of “IDPs in protracted displacement: Is local integration a solution?” Around 100 participants discussed challenges and possibilities of local integration in diverse protracted displacement situations over the course of the two days. The report of the seminar is available at: http://www.internal-displacement.org/publications/is-local- integration-a-solution. This publication includes the six case studies commissioned for the seminar as well as an introductory essay which explores the common themes emerging from the studies on protracted displacement and local integration. We are grateful to the six researchers for their research which not only informed the seminar, but which offer insights for the broader humanitarian and development communities. Three of the researchers—Nina Sluga, Nadine Walicki, and Greta Zeender—are country analysts working with IDMC. The other three—Michelle Berg, Patricia Fagen, and Rhodri Williams—all have long experience with protracted displacement and were commissioned to carry out these country studies in mid-2010. 1 Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, Understanding Civilian Protection: Concepts and Practices, September 2010, available at: www.brookings.edu/events/2010/0914_protection_series_one.aspx 5 PROLOGUE We are also grateful to our colleagues in UNHCR and UNDP, particularly Josep Zapater and Awa Dabo, for their contributions through the long preparatory process. Joanne van Selm provided editorial expertise in finalizing the case studies for publication. Finally, we must thank the many members of our staff who contributed to the process, particularly Nadine Walicki of IDMC and Sarah Deardorff Miller, working with Brookings, for the countless hours they spent in preparing the details of organizing an international expert seminar. They also provided substantive input into this collection of case studies for which we are deeply grateful. By focusing on the possibilities and challenges of local integration in protracted displacement, we hope that these six case studies lead to better understanding—and to concrete actions—which will bring an end to internal dis- placement which has gone on for far too long in these six countries and in many others. Elizabeth Ferris Kate Halff Senior Fellow and Head Co-Director Internal Displacement Monitoring Brookings-LSE Project on Centre