Introduction
In one dreary morning, I, the pupil of kindergarten #2, became an IDP; to be more specific, I was forced to become an IDP. In several hours, I lost my friends, home and happy childhood. I experienced the horror of hunger and cold. At age of 6, I realized words "peace" and "bread". The vision of endless flow of people worn out from hunger and cold and the taste of a piece of bread I clutched in my fist will never fade from my memory.
Nino, 15 (displaced at age 6), Georgia
Internally displaced persons, or "IDPs", are people who have been forced to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residences and who, unlike refugees, remain within their own country.2 Around the world today, across more than 50 countries, there are an estimated 27.1 million internally displaced persons as a result of armed conflict3. At least half of these internally displaced persons that is, at least 13.5 million, and likely more, are children.4
The experience of internal displacement is devastating for all those affected, and disproportionately so for children as they face specific risks. Graça Machel, in her landmark 1996 study on The Impact of Armed Conflict on Children drew special attention to the situation of children uprooted by armed conflict: During flight from the dangers of conflict, families and children continue to be exposed to multiple physical dangers.
They are threatened by sudden attacks, shelling, snipers and landmines, and must often walk for days with only limited quantities of water and food. Under such circumstances, children become acutely undernourished and prone to illness, and they are the first to die. Girls in flight are even more vulnerable than usual to sexual abuse. Children forced to flee on their own to ensure their survival are also at heightened risk. Many abandon home to avoid forced recruitment, only to find that being in flight still places them at risk of recruitment, especially if they have no documentation and travel without their families.5
Moreover, many, if not most, internally displaced children lack access to education. Without access to education, they are deprived not only of the opportunity to learn but of an important protection tool and source of psychosocial support. A lack of access to education also undermines their development and future potential.
Displacement is an especially destabilizing and traumatic experience for children as it uproots and exposes them to risks at a time in their lives when they most need protection and stability. Perhaps most troubling, the difficult conditions that internally displaced persons endure typically persist for years, even decades, without a solution. Worldwide, the average duration of displacement today is nearly 20 years. Many children grow up experiencing life as internally displaced persons.
Yet, there is simply no reason why millions of children should suffer internal displacement. Parties to conflict have obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians in times of war. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) rightly emphasizes that if only these obligations and human rights were respected, most people who today are displaced by violence would have been able to remain safely at home.6 In reality, as the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) points out, "displacement will continue to disrupt and destroy people's lives unless there is continuing engagement to encourage all parties to conflicts to uphold these obligations".7
This Working Paper-the second in a series issued by the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary?General for Children in Armed Conflict8-draws attention to the particular vulnerabilities and risks faced by children who are internally displaced in armed conflict, and to the responsibilities of Governments and all other authorities to provide internally displaced children with the protection that they require and to which they have a right.
Its purpose is to guide and support advocacy efforts, in particular in relation to Governments, as they bear primary responsibility for protecting, assisting and securing the rights of internally displaced children, but also advocacy vis à vis all parties to a conflict, as they are obliged under international humanitarian law to protect civilians, including the youngest among them.
The Working Paper begins with a brief overview of the legal foundation for the protection of IDPs. It then describes sixteen rights and guarantees covering a range of concerns that internally displaced children face in armed conflict.9 Each chapter on the rights and guarantees sketches the main challenges that internally displaced children face, sets out the most relevant legal principles; and suggests key advocacy points to raise, in particular with Governments and all other authorities, with the goal of ensuring that internally displaced children's rights are realized. For further guidance, a list of selected resources on each of these issues as well as on the legal framework follows the Conclusion.