source. That decision may vary from year to year depending on objective criteria, such as their geographical and temporal coverage, or their perceived reliability (see below). We may equally aggregate different data from separate sources to help us extend the geographical coverage of our estimates. As such, our figures are more likely to take into account and reflect both qualitative and quantitative uncertainties. In many countries affected by conflict and violence, no agencies or mechanisms collect data on the number and kind of people who have sought refuge in urban areas, those who are hosted by relatives or other families or those who have fled to remote areas. This leads to significant underestimates of the number of IDPs. Data on returns varies significantly from context to context. Sometimes data on returnees is collected after people have returned to their area of origin or place of habitual residence. At other times, our sources use “returns” or “returnees” to indicate that people have departed a location such as a displacement camp with the intention of returning – but with no further information about their location or well-being. In some cases, these returnees may have moved to another camp or become displaced elsewhere, in which case they continue to be counted as displaced. In order to be consistent across all contexts, we subtract returnees from our stock figures. That said, this is a strictly accounting rule and it does not mean that these returnees have reached a durable solution. In order to make that assessment, more follow-up data on returnees is needed. Selection of countries in the GRID dataset on displacement by conflict and violence The 2017 GRID dataset contains information on 56 countries and territories. The inclusion of a country is not contingent on a quantitative threshold for the number of IDPs. It depends only on the availability of credible data. The fact that a country is not included does not necessarily imply that no displacement has taken place, but rather that no information has been forthcoming, or that the displacement is not caused by conflict or violence. 104 GRID 2017 Our 2017 GRID estimates include a number of changes from last year’s report. They are the result of issues related to the systematic and consistent application of decision rules to all displacement situations, our analysis of the primary causes of displacement, and geopolitical considerations that affect the definition of international borders that are essential to determine whether someone is an IDP, a refugee or stateless. The border issues cover foreign occupation, the creation of new states and unilateral secession. Geopolitical parameters We collect and presents data on IDPs for UN members states and other self-governing territories, those with unsettled sovereignty such as the Abyei area, and others with special status such as Palestine and Kosovo. People displaced within areas of an internationally recognised state under foreign occupation are considered IDPs, irrespective of their location with respect to the de facto borders or the territorial claims of the occupying power, providing the original borders still have broad international recognition. Examples are eastern Ukraine, Crimea, South Ossetia and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The inclusion of such countries and other contested territories does not imply any political endorsement or otherwise on IDMC’s part. a. Foreign occupation We consider people displaced within an internationally recognised state under foreign occupation as IDPs, irrespective of their location with respect to the de facto borders or the territorial claims of the occupying power, providing the original borders still have broad international recognition. As such, our estimate of the number of IDPs in Cyprus does not only include Greek Cypriots who moved to the southern part of the island at the time of Turkey’s invasion in 1974, as was the case in the past. It also incorporates estimates for Turkish Cypriots who moved from southern to northern Cyprus at the time. This interpretation and accounting is consistent with the methodology we have used for other occupied areas, such as Crimea and other parts of eastern Ukraine.