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IDP Bulletin IDP Bulletin Issue 1 October, 2002 Contents: Introductory Note Introductory note The Office for the Coordination of Global Overview of Internal Displacement Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Georgia Internal Displacement in Georgia would like to present the first issue of IDP Worldwide Programs for IDPs: Bulletin. ∗ Few Options for Madurese IDPs in West Kalimantan Considering the fact that at present most international organizations are downsizing their activities aimed at Programs for IDPs in Georgia: supporting internally displaced persons in Georgia, OCHA- ∗ New Approach to IDP Assistance Initiative; Georgia Georgia has decided to enhance its advocacy and analysis role Self-Reliance Fund (GSRF) related to IDP issues and assistance programming. ∗ IDP Rehabilitation Association “Dioscuria” The IDP Bulletin will include social, education, gender, ∗ Non-governmental organization “Ordu” legal, political updates pertaining to the displaced population in Georgia. The Bulletin will describe different programs and Legal Protection of the Vulnerable: the Case of Older IDPs projects targeting IDPs in Georgia as well as worldwide. The Brief Summary of Working Groups’ Meetings Bulletin will be issued quarterly. IDP Statistics We, as OCHA team responsible for the preparation of Useful Links the given publication, would appreciate to receive Your feedback, comments and suggestions to improve and refine the IDP Bulletin. Global Overview of Internal Displacement Internally displaced persons (IDPs) are persons “who have been forced or obliged to flee or 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 violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized state border” (Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement) The global number of IDPs due solely to conflict is estimated to range between 20 and 25 million, dwarfing the estimated 14 million refugees in the world. While the rights of refugees and the obligations of states to assist them are clearly outlined in the 1951 Refugee Convention and related protocols, no such international agreements exist for the internally displaced. Nor is there a dedicated agency to respond to their needs for protection and humanitarian assistance as there is in the case of refugees. The result can often be the neglect of the needs of a huge population of suffering people by the international community. People who have been forced to leave their homes because of conflict are put in an extremely vulnerable situation. It is not 1 IDP Bulletin Global Overview of Internal Displacement possible to establish the exact figure, but available information shows that a large share of the world's IDPs do not find shelter in organized camps or protected areas. Many displaced are unable to leave the ongoing conflict areas and are constantly on the run. In 90 percent of the countries surveyed, IDPs were subject to direct physical attacks or threats, and that sexual assaults on women occurred in about half of the countries. IDPs in about one-third of the countries reportedly were subjected to forced labour. A study by the US General Accounting Office showed that the international response towards internal displacement is most often focused on the delivery of humanitarian assistance as a life saving measure during the initial stage of displacement, while longer-term displacement situations were given less attention. This is especially true in ‘protracted’ and ‘frozen’ conflicts. In 2001 the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), which consists of representatives of the major UN humanitarian actors and the international NGO community, created a "Senior Inter-Agency Network on Internal Displacement". The 'Senior Network' consists of focal points from the various agencies involved in internal displacement and is chaired by a 'Special Coordinator on Internal Displacement'. The Network was mandated to assess the humanitarian response at the local level, and provide recommendations for improvement. In 1992, the General Assembly addressed the problem of internal displacement and Dr. Francis M. Deng was appointed as the Representative of the Secretary-General on Internally Displaced Persons. The IASC designated the Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC), the Head of OCHA, as the "reference point" for the UN response towards IDPs in 1994. Three years later, the UN Secretary General assigned additional responsibility to the ERC to ensure that the "protection and assistance" needs of IDPs were properly addressed. The lack of a binding legal framework explicitly addressing the issue of IDP protection, similar to the 1951 Refugee Convention, has in the past often been cited as a reason for the inadequate response. In 1998, at the request of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the General Assembly, Francis Deng in cooperation with legal experts developed and issued the "Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement". The Guiding Principles have not been signed or ratified by States and are therefore not considered binding international law. However, they restate and reflect international conventions in the fields of Human Rights Law, Humanitarian Law and Refugee Law that are applicable or appropriate for IDP protection and assistance. Another preliminary outcome of the international debate on the UN responsibilities towards IDPs was the establishment in 2001 of a small Internal Displacement Unit within the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva. The Unit is staffed with personnel seconded from the major humanitarian UN agencies and the NGO community and is tasked with providing expertise, training and guidance to humanitarian agencies working in IDP crises. Internal Displacement in Georgia The collapse of communism and the rise of ethnic strife plunged the southern fringes of the former Soviet Union into turmoil in the early 1990s, particularly in the Caucasus where some 1.5 million people were forced from their homes in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Although there was sporadic media coverage of the fighting, the world was largely unaware of the human suffering that followed for hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in all three republics. However, the refugees and displaced peoples were not the only ones hurt by this turmoil. Infrastructure collapsed, and, in many areas of the Caucasus, fuel and power supplies were sporadic or non-existent. Trade and industry ground to a halt, leaving hundreds of thousands of families without jobs or income. Inflation skyrocketed and shortages were frequent. People were hungry, and the lines for government-subsidized bread grew longer by the day. At least 350,000 people were displaced by ethnic conflicts on two fronts in Georgia, a country of 2 IDP Bulletin Internal Displacement in Georgia 5.5 million people that was once one of the most prosperous of the Soviet republics. The first conflict began in November 1989 between the government and separatists in South Ossetia. The second - and largest - conflict erupted in August 1992 between the central government and separatists in Abkhazia. The displacements occurred in several successive waves. Up to 350,000 of Abkhazia's estimated population of 540,000 fled the region between August 1992 and October 19931. Most of them, about 270,000 people, went to other areas of Georgia, while the remainder fled to the Russian Federation, Armenia, Greece, Turkey and other countries. The majority of those fleeing were Georgians, who comprised 47 per cent of the population of Abkhazia before the fighting - the largest single ethnic group. Ethnic Abkhaz constituted only about 18 per cent of the pre-war population, but today control Abkhazia. Other sizeable ethnic groups included Armenians (18 per cent) and Russians (about 13 per cent) with smaller numbers of Greeks, Ukrainians and others. In South Ossetia, about 16,000 people fled to other parts of Georgia, while another 10,000 went to the neighbouring North Ossetia region of the Russian Federation. In addition, at least 20,000 people have been displaced within South Ossetia itself. The fighting also affected some 100,000 Ossetians living in Georgia proper. South Ossetian authorities estimate that as many as 60,000 Ossets fled Georgia, most of them to Russia. Of the more than 250,000 displaced people in Georgia, approximately 70 per cent lived with host families, many of whom found it increasingly difficult to support the IDPs. The rest were housed in schools, hotels, sanatoria, hospitals and other public buildings and remain there today. Even now, after more than 10 years of displacement, very few opportunities exist for the regular employment of IDPs: many of the displaced engage in petty trade or unskilled manual labor. Jobs are more difficult for those IDPs housed in collective centers located in more isolated areas. IDPs often lack access to land to cultivate. Many children do not attend school because of the lack of money in the families. The effect of this influx on local populations, already reeling from severe economic pressures resulting from the Soviet collapse, was dramatic. The state social security network, which formerly provided assistance to some 1.5 million people, virtually collapsed. It has yet to recover. IDPs are entitled to receive 14 GEL monthly (namely, IDPs residing in collective centers receive monthly allowance of 12 GEL, while those living in private accommodation receive 14 GEL). However, these payments are often several months in arrears causing frequent IDP discontent and protest. UNHCR, the Russian Federation, Georgia and Abkhaz authorities signed a Quadripartite Agreement on 4 April 1994 paving the way for the return of refugees and displaced people to their homes in Abkhazia. The parties agreed that the return should begin in Gali District of Abkhazia, where the overall level of damage was much less and the security situation better than in most other parts of the war- ravaged region. An estimated 80,000 people - most of them Georgians - had fled Gali District for other parts of Georgia.