Illegal Forced Displacement and IDPs
Displacement of individuals and groups resulting from the violation of any of
the above principles or rights or any combination thereof constitutes forced
displacement. Usually this displacement can be direct, when it leads to the
“actual displacement of people from their locations,” or indirect, when it
“leads to a loss of livelihood.”43 The loss of livelihood often forces people to
leave their homes in search of a better standard of living. Moreover, once
those displaced leave the area which they were living in and on which their
livelihood was based, they often become impoverished.44
When those displaced do not cross any international borders and remain
within their country, they become Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). IDPs
are defined as “persons or groups of persons who have been forced to flee,
or leave their homes or places of habitual residence as a result of armed
conflict, internal strife, and habitual violations of human rights, […], and
who have not crossed an internationally recognized state border.”45 Arbitrary
displacement is completely forbidden by IHRL, and the UN Guidelines on
Internal Displacement provide instances of such displacement. These include
displacement based on “policies of apartheid, ‘ethnic cleansing’ or similar
practices aimed at/or resulting in altering the ethnic, religious or racial
composition of the affected population;” cases of large-scale development
projects “not justified by compelling and overriding public interests;” and
cases in which displacement is used “as a collective punishment.”46
Rights of Refugees and IDPs
In 2005, the Commission on Human Rights issued the “Principles on housing
and property restitution for refugees and displaced persons” (hereinafter
‘Restitution Principles’), which “reflect widely accepted principles of IHRL,
43 UNESCO, “Displaced Person/Displacement”, n.d., available at: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/socialand-human-sciences/themes/international-migration/glossary/displaced-person-displacement/
[accessed 18 September 2017].
44 Ibid.
45 UNHCR, Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, OCHA/IDP/2004/01, June 2001, available at:
http://www.unhcr.org/protection/idps/43ce1cff2/guiding-principles-internal-displacement.html
[accessed 18 September 2017] [hereinafter UNHCR, Guiding Principles].
46 Id., Principle 6.
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