ABSTRACT Internally displaced persons remaining in camps - who are they, why do they stay? A case study of internally displaced persons in Sri Lanka Essay in Political Science C, by Rebecka Johansson, fall 2004 This essay is a case study of internally displaced persons in camps in the district of Vavunyia in northern Sri Lanka. The main question was; Why do some internally displaced persons remain in camps when many displaced people already have settled elsewhere? The aim of this study was to examine why some people stay in camps even after a ceasefire agreement has been signed and though many people already have settled. The literature on solutions of conflict-induced displacement is not conceptually rich or theoretically exact. Therefore this study also tried to make a model for analysing why some individuals remain in camps. The model is based on the political scientist Robert Dahl theories on “political resources”. The concept used in this essay is “personal resources”. The personal resources examined were social situations and land and property ownerships and political and legal rights. The study assumes from the hypothesis that the remaining people in camps lack these personal resources which are of importance for their ability and motivation to settle outside the camps. The personal resources have been divided into structural and agential factors. The result of this study suggests that the given hypothesis was right; the remaining displaced persons lack most of the examined personal resources. Their social situation was characterised by low status, small social network in the place they fled from, low education and unskilled work. A majority of the displaced who remained in the camps were landless. Until recently their legal right to choose settlement was restricted. The only personal resource that the majority of the displaced possessed was the political right to vote. The lack of personal resources affects both the displaced persons’ ability and motivation to find a durable solution. Worthy to note is that it is impossible to draw clear distinctions between what is to be seen as agential and structural factors. Landlessness which in the introduction was categorised as a structural factor was proved to also constitute an agential factor as it affects people’s motivation to return. The study shows that the circumstances surrounding internally displaced persons are complex and constitute many obstacles to their possibility to find permanent settlements. The most obvious factors, like not having any place to return to and deprivation of the legal rights of choice of settlement, can be the most important explanations.

This thesis analyzes how the interests of minority and majority groups in state-led development practices can be bridged, with the Indian tribals affected by the Sardar Sarovar Dam Project (SSP) serving as a context for my analysis. The SSP threatens the livelihoods of approximately 100,000 people with displacement, who are primarily comprised of Indian tribal minorities. The construction of the SSP makes tribals more vulnerable to the risks associated with development-induced displacement, such as landlessness, joblessness, homelessness, marginalization, and food insecurity. When analyzing the SSP, a lack of adequate compensation, resettlement, and legal protection for the tribals becomes apparent. This has led to discussions of human rights violations among the national and international community, raising concerns regarding the protection of minority groups affected by state-led development. Attention is placed on what it means to be a citizen of a country in terms of legal representation and state protection, and how the under-representation of societal groups can lead to the creation of second-class citizens. The objective is to go beyond current discussions of human rights neglect in the context of the SSP by analyzing the position of minority rights in state-led development practices.

Depuis 1996, conflits armés, grand banditisme (coupeurs de route) et razzias ont forcé des centaines de milliers de Centrafricains à migrer, à l’intérieur de leur pays (déplacés internes) ou vers l'étranger proche (réfugiés au Cameroun et au Tchad). Au travers divers courants de la géographie (politique, du développement, des mobilités), ce travail montre que les migrations forcées se construisent au croisement entre les pratiques des migrants et les choix politiques des structures d'encadrement (États, groupes armés, organisations d'aide humanitaire). Il se fonde sur une approche transversale de la migration forcée (du lieu d'origine au retour éventuel) et sur des enquêtes de terrain multi-situées (Centrafrique, Cameroun, Tchad). Une première partie démontre que les violences ne sont pas causées par la faiblesse de l'État centrafricain, mais par les politiques de ses dirigeants. Les populations sont prises pour cible dans des conflits irréguliers pour contrôler l'appareil d'État et par des groupes armés qui pillent les ressources (bétail, récoltes, infrastructures publiques, diamants). Une seconde partie montre que si les insécurités jouent sur l'ampleur, la répartition spatiale et la durée des exils, les migrants orientent leurs cheminements selon leurs habitudes circulatoires. Ils empruntent divers champs de mobilités pour fuir les violences (mobilités agricoles et pastorales, relations villes-campagnes). Une troisième partie met en perspective le rôle de l'aide humanitaire et des politiques d'asile dans la production de l'espace migratoire, autour de deux formes d’accueil : les camps de réfugiés, la dispersion des migrants dans des villes et des villages. / Since 1996, armed conflicts, organized crime (road bandits) and raids have forced hundreds of thousands of Central African Republic people to migrate within their own country (IDPs) or to bordering countries (refugee in Cameroon and Chad). Through various geographical schools (political, development, mobility), this work demonstrate that forced migrations results from both the practices of migrants and the political choices or the supervisory organizations (states, armed groups, humanitarian organizations). It is based on a transversal approach of forced migration (ranging from the starting point of the migrant up to his possible return) and multi-located field surveys (CAR, Cameroon, Chad). The first part shows that violence is not caused by the weakness of the CAR state, but by the policies of its leaders. The populations are targeted in the course or irregular conflicts aimed at controlling the political machinery and by armed groups plundering ressources (livestock, crops, public infrastructure, diamonds). The second part shows that if insecurities influence the extent, the spatial distribution and the duration of exiles, migrants direct their paths according to their regular circulations. They use various fields of mobility to escape violence (agricultural and pastoral mobility, urban-rural relationship). A third part put sinto perspective the role of humanitarian aid and asylum policies in the production of the migratory space (refugee, camps, dispersion of migrants).

The mini-dissertation analyses the international law obligations of the government and nonstate actors regarding the protection of internally displaced children living with HIV in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The war and armed conflicts in the Eastern DRC have exacerbated the vulnerability of children, causing them to be separated from their families, to experience sexual violence and forced conscription into armed groups, to experience the violent deaths of a parent or friend, resulting in insufficient adult care. They further are subject to a lack of safe drinking water and food, insufficient access to health care services, discrimination and stigmatisation, and so on. These factors increase their risk of contracting HIV and, if they are already living with HIV, they adversely affect their welfare. The mini-dissertation illustrates that international, regional and domestic human rights instruments protecting children can be applied in situations of armed conflicts to supplement humanitarian law instruments. It demonstrates that the government of the DRC has not implemented and fulfilled its international obligations to ensure these children adequate access to health services and to humanitarian assistance for displaced persons living with HIV; security and protection within displaced persons camps; and that children are protected from abuse and human rights violations. The dissertation recommends the prosecution of perpetrators of crimes tied to the conflicts which have targeted children, as well as the ratification by the DRC of regional instruments such as the African Union Convention on the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa, and the African Charter on the Rights and the Welfare of the Child, as this may enhance the legal protection of displaced children in the DRC. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

Some 5 million people were classified as internally displaced in Colombia at the end of 2012, which represented about 10 per cent of the population and the highest number in the world at the time. Colombia differs from other countries with high levels of displacement in that it is comparatively politically stable, has effective national institutions, a relatively strong formal economy, and can by no means be described as a ‘failed’ or ‘failing’ state. The displacement literature tends to characterise the phenomenon as a humanitarian crisis and a side effect of the long-running civil war. But Colombians continue to be displaced in very large numbers despite the formal demobilization of the paramilitaries in 2006 and the diminished military capacity and engagement of the guerrillas since about the same period: the same groups that are widely regarded as being the main perpetrators of displacement. This thesis contends that displacement of the civilian population in Colombia is frequently not a consequence of violence, but rather the primary objective, where violence plays a facilitatory role. Moreover, the thesis asserts that these massive levels of displacement are substantively linked to predominantly economically-motivated logics and are regionally specific. By examining an agricultural commodity that has significantly expanded relatively recently in Colombia - African palm oil - this research examines if and how expanded cultivation may be linked to displacement. Using a political economy framework of analysis combined with empirical fieldwork, it explores the ‘localised displacement logics’ whereby land is coercively acquired by powerful local groups. The thesis concludes that the abandonment and dispossession of land from poor and marginalised groups constitutes part of an ongoing process of capitalist expansion and statebuilding in Colombia. Contrary to assertions that it is the intra-state conflict that constitutes the central obstacle to development, Colombia’s current trajectory of capitalist development may actually be a central obstacle to sustainable peace and not lead to an end to displacement.

Today, an estimated 65,3 million people are reported as forcibly displaced globally. This figure includes 40,8 million people who are considered to be internally displaced within their own country and therefore rely upon the protection of their state. State sovereignty implies that the main responsibility for the protection of its people lies with the state. In situations where the state fails or is unwilling to fulfill its duty to protect the population, the principle of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) can be applied to prevent genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. The purpose of this study is to review to what extent R2P provides protection for the rights of internally displaced persons and how R2P relates to the notion of human security. The theoretical framework is based on the concepts of human dignity, sovereignty, human security and R2P. Argumentation analysis was used in order to be able to compare the different arguments within the R2P discourse to determine whether the principle provides legitimate means for protection or not. The study shows that R2P provides several legitimate means for the protection of internally displaced people. Especially when it comes to measures preventing people from becoming displaced. However, the protection measures towards people already internally displaced can in several instances be regerded as insufficent and illegitimate. This is mainly due to the fact that the UN can undermine the legitimacy of the principle e.g. by obstructing aid support with veto decisions or lack strategies for reconstruction. The cooperation with other actors (AU, ICC) also shows that the protection of internally displaced persons may vary between states.

Internally Displaced Persons ('IDPs') outnumber refugees by two to one and often have the same fears, needs and wants as refugees recognised as such under international law. However, refugee status entails international protection, while IDPs are left to the protection of their own state, which may, but by no means necessarily, be the very entity that has forced them to flee in the first place. In recent years, there have been significant developments in the realm of IDP protection. This includes the conclusion of two regional treaties on the protection of IDPs, the development of relevant soft law instruments, and the reformed 'Cluster Approach' of humanitarian response. Although the increased focus on IDP protection is a welcome development, the UNHCR has expressed the fear that 'activities for the internally displaced may be (mis)interpreted as obviating the need for international protection and asylum.' This thesis represents the first legal analysis of the relationship between the protection of IDPs and International Refugee Law. It will discuss five key challenges in this respect. First, the challenge of drawing the attention of the international community to the plight of IDPs; second, the challenge of developing an appropriate framework for the protection of IDPs; third, the challenge of ensuring that internal protection is not interpreted as a substitute for asylum; fourth; the challenge of determining the relationship between complementary protection and internal displacement; and fifth, the challenge of ensuring that IDP protection in an inter-agency context does not trigger the application of Article 1D of the Refugee Convention, rendering the Convention inapplicable to the recipients of that protection. This thesis will conclude by setting out the future challenges in the relationship between IDP protection and International Refugee Law, by identifying questions left open for further research, and by illustrating the overall impact and importance of this thesis' findings.

Le déplacement interne forcé est un phénomène ancien et récurrent dont la communautéinternationale a tardé à se saisir. Ce n’est qu’en 1992 que le Secrétaire général des NationsUnies a nommé un Représentant spécial chargé des personnes déplacées internes. Dès sanomination, ce dernier a entrepris un important travail d’analyse et de compilation des normesinternationales afin d’étudier l’applicabilité de celles-ci aux personnes déplacées internes.L’aboutissement de ce travail a permis l’élaboration et la présentation des « Principesdirecteurs relatifs au déplacement de personnes à l’intérieur de leur propre pays » en 1998.Ces Principes directeurs sont par la suite devenus un cadre de référence pour ledéveloppement d’instruments internationaux conventionnels de portée régionale dont ledernier en date est la Convention de Kampala adoptée en 2009 par l’Union africaine.Cette étude a un double-objet. Tout d’abord, mettre en évidence l’évolution normative qu’aconnue la notion de personne déplacée interne et la protection juridique internationale relativeà cette notion. Ensuite, de se questionner sur l’émergence d’un statut juridique internationalen faveur des déplacés internes à travers l’analyse du concept de responsabilité de protéger etl’examen de l’utilité et de l’intérêt de ce statut juridique international dont l’émergencepourrait être entravée par d’éventuels obstacles juridiques. / Forced internal displacement is an old and recurring phenomenon that the internationalcommunity has been slow to grasp. It was not until 1992 that the United Nations GeneralSecretary appointed a Special Representative on internally displaced persons. Upon hisappointment, the Special Representative undertook a major work of analysis and compilationof international norms in order to study their applicability to internally displaced persons.The culmination of this work has enabled the development and presentation of the “GuidingPrinciples on internal displacement” in 1998. These guidelines have subsequently become animportant framework for the development of international treaties with regional impactwhose latest is the Kampala Convention adopted in 2009 by the African Union.This study has a double-object. First of all, it is to underline the important evolution of thenotion of internally displaced person and of the international legal protection regarding thisnotion.Secondly, it is to question about the emergence of an international legal status dedicated tointernally displaced persons through the analysis of the concept of responsibility to protectand through the review of the usefulness and the significance of this international legal statuswhose emergence could be hampered by possible legal obstacles.

Professor N. Emel Ganapati, Major Professor Despite a growing body of research on gender and disaster, little is known regarding the long-term recovery priorities and participation of internally displaced women in the long-term recovery process. Focusing on this important scholarly gap in the public administration literature, the overall goal of this study is to understand the long-term recovery processes of populations displaced by the 2010 Haiti earthquake through a gendered lens. The study’s specific aims are to: (1) understand the rebuilding priorities of IDPs in Haiti through a gendered lens; (2) determine factors that enable or hinder IDP women’s participation in decision-making processes; and (3) assist policymakers, non-governmental organizations, and international aid agencies in addressing the priorities of women IDPs. The dissertation is based on a qualitative research study. Its data collection methods include semi-structured interviews (n=97), focus groups (n=63), participant observation, and a review of diverse secondary sources. Despite some similarities between the recovery priories of women and men IDPs in the short and long-term, women IDPs in Haiti had several additional priorities due to: (1) the traditional roles they play in the household; (2) their perception inside and outside the household as passive “victims” that needed help; and, (3) the location and conditions of IDP camps (e.g., increased risks of sexual assaults and violence) within which they lived. Their participation to voice their priorities were limited to participation in informal settings (e.g., camp committee meetings) in camps managed by the government or international aid agencies; and were affected by the following: (1) organizational factors (e.g., diverse range of organizations with diverse organizational cultures); (2) formal institutional factors (e.g., lack of participatory mechanisms customized for IDPs); (3) policymaker-related factors (e.g., stigma towards the IDPs); (4) IDP related factors (e.g., lack of trust); (5) place-related factors (e.g., lack of access to transportation); and (6) social capital-related factors (e.g., women’s groups). This study provides useful information to public administration scholars and policymakers who are working to support individuals living in the camps while those individuals rebuild their communities and livelihoods.

This research started as a quest to understand better the ethics of doing Theatre for Development/Applied Theatre with under-served, marginalized and vulnerable populations especially in post-conflict zones in the Global South. As a theatre practitioner-researcher from Africa who has lived and worked in post-conflict zones, I was interested in fostering appropriate ethical protocols for arts-based practices for social engagement, advocacy and social justice. Thus, in this dissertation, I focus on two concepts in applied theatre practice: participation and ethics. I examine how participation can be re-conceptualized in applied theatre practice and focus on the ethics around conducting research among vulnerable populations especially on refugees and internally displaced persons. On participation, I use existing case studies from various fields to argue that participation in community engagement and socially-engaged art practices can become a tool to reposition voices on the margin to the centre in order to unsettle centres of power. However, for this to happen, participation needs to engage a communicative action that is both epistemic and ontic in its approach. An epistemic discourse provides a way of seeing the world while an ontic discourse provides people with a way of being in the world. The former is a ‘theoretical’ discursive practice that is fundamentally epistemological, and the latter is an ‘embodied’ praxis that is fundamentally ontological. I examine the famous Ngugi wa Thiongo’s Kamiriithu Community Theatre project in Kenya and Michael Balfour et al’s refugee project in Australia to foreground this new thinking on verb-oriented and noun-oriented notions of participation. On ethics, I raise a series of critical questions around interventionist or humanitarian performances. It is hoped that these questions will deepen discourses in applied theatre practice and further challenge practitioners to rethink why we do what we do. Using narrative inquiry, I glean lessons from my field research facilitating drama workshop among secondary school students who have been internally displaced due to an ongoing socio-political crisis in Nigeria. I also reflect on my other applied theatre experiences in Canada and Sudan. I propose an ethical practice that is built on relational interaction. In the context of working in post-conflict zones or in places of war, I argue that precarity becomes a determining factor in framing the ethics of practice. The questions around ethics are raised to also draw attention to decolonizing ethical practices. Finally, I articulate the connection between participation and ethics in that participation becomes a tactic to ensure that applied theatre researchers/practitioners conduct their work in ethical ways. This is because through participation, concerned communities can challenge unethical practices and transform the research to create outcomes that are beneficial. Thus, as an example of reflective practitioner research, the projects in this dissertation offer opportunities to examine critically how participation has been conceptualized and the need for a decolonizing understanding towards ethics in applied theatre practice especially in post-conflict zones. / Graduate