IDPs and Humanitarian Assistance under International Law
Internally displaced people are afforded the same rights and protections as all other individuals under international human rights law and international humanitarian law.
The international legal protections due internally displaced people have been set out in the United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, which is widely considered an authoritative restatement of existing international law. They draw from relevant standards in both international human rights and humanitarian law and set out the rights of IDPs to receive humanitarian assistance that protects their basic social and economic needs, such as access to food and water, health care, and shelter.[168]
According to the introductory note to the UN Guiding Principles:
The purpose of the Guiding Principles is to address the specific needs of internally displaced persons worldwide by identifying rights and guarantees relevant to their protection. The Principles reflect and are consistent with international human rights law and international humanitarian law.… They apply to the different phases of displacement, providing protection against arbitrary displacement, access to protection and assistance during displacement and guarantees during return or alternative settlement and reintegration.[169]
On December 6, 2012, the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa came into force. The Kampala Convention is the first regional instrument aimed specifically at preventing displacement, protecting and assisting the displaced, and identifying durable solutions. The convention provides a comprehensive description of the rights of internally displaced people and the obligations of states to ensure their access to protection and assistance under international humanitarian and human rights law.[170] Somalia has signed but not yet ratified the treaty.[171]
The Kampala Convention incorporates the UN Guiding Principles and other relevant sources of law on internal displacement, setting out the rights and guarantees relevant to the protection of persons from forced displacement and their protection and assistance during displacement, return, and resettlement and reintegration.
Under the UN Guiding Principles, the Somalia government has the “primary duty and responsibility to provide protection and humanitarian assistance to IDPs” and IDPs have the “right to request and receive protection and humanitarian assistance” from the Somali authorities.[172] If the Somali authorities do not provide assistance, then aid agencies:
Have the right to offer their services in support of IDPs [which] … shall be considered in good faith. Consent thereto shall not be arbitrarily withheld, particularly when authorities concerned are unable or unwilling to provide the required humanitarian assistance.… All authorities concerned shall grant and facilitate the free passage of humanitarian assistance and grant persons engaged in the provision of such assistance rapid and unimpeded access to IDPs.[173]
Humanitarian assistance shall not be diverted, particularly for political or military reasons.[174]
International humanitarian organizations providing assistance to IDPs are expected to respect the human rights and protection needs of IDPs, and to adhere to relevant international standards and codes of conduct.[175]
Regarding the type of assistance to which all IDPs are entitled, the UN Guiding Principles make clear that “at a minimum, regardless of the circumstances” they shall receive help to ensure safe access to essential food and potable water; basic shelter and housing; appropriate clothing; and essential medical services and sanitation.[176]
The principles also set out the rights of special groups, such as “children, especially unaccompanied minors, expectant mothers, mothers with young children, female heads of household, persons with disabilities and elderly persons” to receive assistance “required by their condition and to treatment which takes into account their special needs.”[177]
Regarding health care, “special attention should be paid to the health needs of women, including access to female health care providers and services … as well as appropriate counseling for victims of sexual and other abuses.”[178]
[169] UN Guiding Principles introductory note, art. 9.
[170] Thirty-seven of Africa’s fifty-three states have signed the convention and sixteen states have currently ratified. Signatory states and states party can be found at http://www.internal-displacement.org/8025708F004BE3B1/(httpInfoFiles)/8DC69364C509E71CC1257AD10038E8A9/$file/list-of-signatories-and-countries-that-have-ratified.pdf.
[171] As a signatory, Somalia is “obliged to refrain from acts which would defeat the object and purpose” of the treaty. See Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, art. 18.
[172] UN Guiding Principles, principle 25(1).
[173] Ibid., principle 25(2).
[174] Ibid., principle 24(2).
[175] Ibid., principle 27(1).
[176] UN Guiding Principles, principle 18(2).
[177] Ibid., principle 4(2).
[178] Ibid., principle 19(2).
