Foreign Affairs. Internally Displaced Persons Lack Effective Protection

摘要

Because of your concerns about human rights violations and other issues relatedto displaced persons, you asked us to assess (1) whether international organizations' efforts have adequately protected internally displaced persons and what impediments these agencies face, (2) whether international organizations have met the food and other assistance needs of displaced populations, and (3) whether the U.S. government has a coordinated and effectively managed program to help protect and assist internally displaced persons. To assess the level of protection and assistance international organizations provided to the internally displaced, we surveyed field-level officials from the United Nations, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and nongovernmental organizations that conduct activities in 48 of the more than 50 countries with internally displaced populations. Our survey provided field level views on what international organizations and the U.S. government are doing to provide physical security for the internally displaced and supply them with basic necessities--food, water, and shelter. The criteria we applied in our assessment of these activities was based on standards set forth in the 1998 publication, Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. We supplemented the survey information with (1) meetings with U.S. government, United Nations, Red Cross Movement, and nongovernmental organization officials at the headquarters, regional, and country levels and (2) case study fieldwork in Burundi, Colombia, and southern Sudan. Collectively, these countries have 1.5 million to 2.5 million internally displaced persons. (See app. I for a complete description of our scope and methodology.)