and governance stability. Displacement and exclusion from nationality affect access to rights,
institutional legitimacy, and social cohesion, thereby creating structural vulnerabilities that may
intensify instability where protection systems remain weak. Where individuals lack recognized legal
identity or citizenship status, barriers to political participation, employment, education, and justice
may reinforce marginalization and generate grievances capable of undermining peacebuilding
processes.
International and regional legal frameworks provide normative foundations for addressing
these vulnerabilities. Core instruments such as the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees, the 1954 and 1961 Statelessness Conventions, and the UN Guiding Principles on
Internal Displacement establish standards concerning protection, nationality rights, and safeguards
against arbitrary displacement.1
Within the African context, the 1969 OAU Refugee Convention expands the refugee
definition to include persons fleeing events seriously disturbing public order, reflecting the
continent's distinctive conflict realities.2
Similarly, the 2009 Kampala Convention represents a significant regional commitment to
addressing internal displacement through obligations relating to prevention, protection, and durable
solutions.3
Empirical evidence demonstrates that large-scale displacement may influence conflict
trajectories through multiple pathways. Competition over land, water, and employment opportunities
may intensify tensions between displaced populations and host communities where governance
responses are insufficient.4 Climate variability in the Lake Chad Basin has contributed to communal
violence associated with resource scarcity and population mobility.5
1 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 28 July 1951, 189 UNTS 137 (entered into force 22 April
1954); Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, 31 January 1967, 606 UNTS 267; Convention relating to
the Status of Stateless Persons, 28 September 1954, 360 UNTS 117; Convention on the Reduction of
Statelessness, 30 August 1961, 989 UNTS 175; UN Commission on Human Rights, Guiding Principles on
Internal Displacement, UN Doc E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2 (11 February 1998) (Deng Principles). See also
UNHCR, Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons Under the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of
Stateless Persons (Geneva: UNHCR, 2014), https://www.unhcr.org/ch/sites/ch/files/legacy-pdf/CHUNHCR_Handbook-on-Protection-of-Stateless-Persons.pdf.
2 Organization of African Unity (OAU), Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in
Africa, 10 September 1969, 1001 UNTS 45 (entered into force 20 June 1974), art 1(2); see also Platform on
Disaster Displacement, "UNHCR Legal and Protection Policy Research Series: The 1969 OAU Convention
and Disaster Displacement" (2016), https://disasterdisplacement.org/resource/unhcr-legal-and-protectionpolicy-research-series-the-1969-oau-convention/.
3 African Union, Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa
(Kampala
Convention),
23
October
2009
(entered
into
force
6
December
2012),
https://au.int/en/treaties/african-union-convention-protection-and-assistance-internally-displaced-personsafrica.
4 VAST BC, "The Trauma of Displacement and Refuge: An Overview in the Global Context" (2021),
https://www.vastbc.ca/articles/the-trauma-of-displacement-and-refuge-an-overview-in-the-global-context;
see also Nicola Daniele Coniglio, Vitorocco Peragine and Davide Vurchio, "The Effects of Refugees' Camps
on Hosting Areas: Social Conflicts and Economic Growth" (2023) 168 World Development 106273,
doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2023.106273.
5 Refugees International, Climate-Fueled Violence and Displacement in the Lake Chad Basin: Focus on Chad
and
Cameroon
(Washington
DC:
Refugees
International,
2022),