Armed hostilities and conflicts have not only killed hundreds of thousands, but have alsodisplaced millions of families and communities around the world, forcing them to move out oftheir homes and seek shelter somewhere else. Some have crossed borders and sought refuge inother countries (refugees). Internally displaced peoples (IDPs) are those victims of conflict whohave remained within their own countries, suffering from constant displacements and numerousviolations to their human rights. However, they are not mere helpless victims of conflict anddisplacement, but instead some of them are also heralded as heroes because of their activeparticipation in and contributions to the peace process. Already viewed both as victims andheroes, this qualitative desk study looks at a third perspective to the IDP community: can theyalso be seen as potential spoilers to peace processes? An analytical framework outlining some conditions to spoiling activities and behaviour has beendeveloped in this study as a basis to facilitate research into this topic. The framework is thenapplied to a case study, chosen because of its community’s heterogeneity: the IDPs of Mindanao,also known as the Bakwit. Through consulting previous research and current relevant newsreports on the Bakwit, their opinions and attitudes toward the conflict, their proposed solutions toending the conflict, as well as, their role in the peace process in Mindanao are discussed in thisstudy. With the application of the analytical framework on the case of the IDPs in Mindanao, thisresearch has found out that because of their direct involvement in conflict, limited politicalparticipation, and limited socioeconomic inclusion, the Bakwit has the potential to spoilingactivities and behaviour. Their exposure to majority of the conditions and characteristics thattrigger spoiling behaviour could hinder them in participating in the peace building process. Thus,the analytical framework has also been used to conclude what governments and the internationalcustodians can do to prevent IDPs from engaging in spoiling activities and to ensure that conflictresolution, negotiations, and peace building activities are more sustainable.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:lnu-25663 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Oskarsson, Gelanie |
| Publisher | Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för samhällsvetenskaper, SV |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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