17 May 2003 review When does internal displacement end? Plus articles on: Iraq · Mauritania · Thai-Burma border · international benchmarks published by the Refugee Studies Centre in association with the Norwegian Refugee Council/Global IDP Project NORWEGIAN REFUGEE COUNCIL The Brookings-SAIS Project Institute for the Study on Internal Displacement of International Migration from the editors Forced Migration Review provides a forum for the regular exchange of practical experience, information and ideas between e are extremely grateful to Erin researchers, refugees and internally displaced people, Mooney and Susan Martin for and those who work with them. It is published in guest-editing this issue’s feature English, Spanish and Arabic by the Refugee Studies W section on ‘when does internal displace- Centre/University of Oxford in association with the Global IDP Project/Norwegian Refugee Council. The ment end?’ – and to their organisations for Spanish translation, Revista de Migraciones Forzadas, providing financial support. With this mailing is produced by IDEI in Guatemala. you will also receive a conference report: ‘Researching Internal Displacement: Editors State of the Art’. Its production was made Corinne Owen Marion Couldrey & Dr Tim Morris possible by funding from NTNU (Norwegian Subscriptions Assistant University of Science and Technology) and DFID (UK Department for International Sharon Ellis Development), to whom we offer many thanks. This and all FMRs are available at www.fmreview.org. Forced Migration Review Refugee Studies Centre, Queen Elizabeth House, We are changing the format of one of FMR’s regular features: the RSC page. Starting 21 St Giles, Oxford, OX1 3LA, UK with this issue we will be presenting short thought-provoking commentaries written by a Email: [email protected] researcher at the RSC. Agnes Hurwitz kicks off the new look with a commentary on Iraq Tel: +44 (0)1865 280700 • Fax: +44 (0)1865 270721 and the international rule of law. Global IDP Project Chemin Moïse-Duboule 59 FMR 18 will include a feature section on humanitarian logistics (produced in CH-1209 Geneva, Switzerland collaboration with the Fritz Institute). If you would like to contribute a short report/article Email: [email protected] relating to logistics and/or Iraq, please contact us immediately. Tel: +41 22 799 0700 • Fax: +41 22 799 0701 How to subscribe The feature section of FMR 19 will focus on reproductive health for refugees. See subscription form in centre of magazine We are working with the Reproductive Health for Refugees Consortium in preparing this or www.fmreview.org. issue (see p54 for conference announcement) and welcome articles on this subject. Deadline for submissions is 1 October. Copyright: see page 12 With our best wishes Funders in 2003 Marion Couldrey & Tim Morris Brookings-SAIS Project on Editors, Forced Migration Review Internal Displacement Danish Refugee Council from the guest editors Feinstein International Famine Center hen does internal displacement end?" Ford Foundation, Cairo Office “ is a question frequently posed by policy Fritz Institute W makers, practitioners and researchers engaged with the internally displaced but which ISIM, Georgetown University lacks a clear answer. Lutheran World Federation Norwegian Refugee Council At the request of the Representative of the Secretary-General on Internally Displaced Persons, we have been exploring this question through research as well as a series of consul- Oxfam GB tations. Through the feature section of this FMR, we have been able to broaden this process The Tolkien Trust by tapping into the thinking of an array of experts on different aspects of the subject. The UK Department for International aim is to provide guidance on when displacement ends to UN and other international Development agencies, as well as governments, NGOs, researchers and, certainly, internally displaced persons themselves. We are extremely grateful to all of the contributors, whose enthusiasm in participating in this Website www.fmreview.org project is an indication of strong interest in the subject around the world and whose insights have been most valuable in furthering our own thinking. Our special thanks go to the editors Designed by Colophon Media. of FMR for their consistent help and encouragement. We hope that FMR readers will find Printed by LDI Ltd on environmentally this collection of articles of interest, advancing our collective thinking on this critical question. friendly paper. ISSN 1460-9819 Susan Martin, Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of International Migration, and Erin Mooney, Brookings Institution-SAIS Project on Internal Displacement Front cover photos: Returned IDP women in Angola · Nina Birkeland. FMR 17 3 contents When does internal Introduction 4 by Erin Mooney displacement end? Cessation of refugee status: a guide for determining when internal displacement ends? 8 by Rafael Bonoan Displacement without end: internally displaced who can’t go home 10 by Bill Frelick A UNHCR perspective 13 by Guillermo Bettocchi and Raquel Freitas The legal dimension 15 by Walter Kälin National legislation 16 by Christophe Beau Looking beyond emergency response 19 by Patricia Weiss Fagen The role of protection in ending displacement 21 by Roberta Cohen The question not asked: when does displacement end? 24 by Michael M Cernea Burundi: out of sight, out of mind? 27 by Susan Martin Colombia: the end of displacement or the end of attention? 28 by Amelia Fernández and Roberto Vidal López Rwanda: narrowing criteria cannot solve IDP problems 30 by Greta Zeender Sierra Leone: resettlement doesn’t always end displacement 31 by Claudia McGoldrick Sri Lanka: on the edge of ending internal displacement? 33 by Rupasingha A Ariyaratne Indonesia: confusing deadlines 35 by Christopher R Duncan The southern Caucasus experience 37 by Marco Borsotti General articles Iraq: dilemmas in contingency planning 38 by Clare Graham Domestic violence on the Thai-Burma border: international human rights implications 41 by Caroline Lambert and Sharon Pickering Benchmarks and yardsticks for humanitarian action: broadening the picture 43 by Koenraad Van Brabant Urban refugees in Mauritania 46 by Channe Lindstrom Regular features Updates: Sri Lanka · Angola · accountability 48 Refugee Studies Centre 50 UNHCR 51 Norwegian Refugee Council 52 Global IDP Project 53 Conferences 54 Publications 55 Brookings-SAIS Project on Internal Displacement 56 4 FMR 17 Bringing the end into sight for internally displaced persons by Erin Mooney When does internal displacement end? In other words, ly. For example, the Global IDP Database reports that estimates of the when, in any particular situation, should internally dis- number of IDPs in Guatemala range from zero to a quarter of a million. In placed persons (IDPs) no longer be regarded as such? Rwanda, serious differences of opinion arose among various UN agencies and ome might query whether it is budgets for effectively addressing offices, all using different criteria, on too early to even be asking this their needs. Yet, owing to varying the issue of whether the hundreds of question. It is only in very recent interpretations as to when displace- S thousands of IDPs resettled as part of years, after all, that awareness and ment ends, the figures they use the ‘villagisation’ programme in the concern have been raised of the plight often differ dramatically, impeding late 1990s should still be considered of IDPs, their specific needs and vul- a coordinated approach. IDPs. nerabilities, and that focused attention has begun to be devoted to developing ■ Most importantly, IDPs themselves Appreciating that "operational effective international and national are entitled to know when the bene- demands … increasingly dictate the responses. However, there are a num- fits and entitlements, as well as any need for a coherent response", the UN ber of compelling reasons for restrictions and risks, that their Office for the Coordination of addressing this question: designation as such entails will Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has cease. turned to the Representative of the ■ Because decisions that internal dis- Secretary-General on IDPs for advice placement has ended inevitably lead Answering the question of when dis- and guidance "indicating when generi- to the termination of programmes placement ends is not simply an cally an individual would not only addressing IDPs’ particular needs academic or theoretical exercise. It can become an IDP but … should no longer and indeed to IDPs effectively dis- have a tremendous impact on the lives be considered under this category." appearing as a specific group of of IDPs and respect for their rights. Though "the question is not new," concern, it is critical to understand OCHA noted, "the answer has hitherto the basis on which such decisions A question in search of 1 been quite elusive." are made and the extent to which answers they match objective realities on the The Brookings-SAIS Project on Internal ground. Currently, decisions on when internal Displacement (which the displacement ends are made, if at all, Representative co-directs), in partner- ■ Knowing when internal displace- on an ad hoc and arbitrary basis. ship with Georgetown University’s ment ends is also important to Moreover, the methodologies used and, Institute for the Study of International determining when national as well consequently, the conclusions reached Migration, has been exploring this as international responsibility, differ among actors, often dramatical- issue