Internally displaced persons: the other refugees, 2013

09/10/2013

The so-called "displaced" people are populations who have fled a situation of natural disaster, conflict, political crisis, etc. These people do not cross the borders of their country, so they do not become "refugees" under international law and UNHCR. Their government retains full responsibility for them, even when it is unable to manage humanitarian emergencies or, worse, when it is directly responsible for them... NGOs work with these populations in the same way as for refugees, but must therefore deal with failing states, or in the worst cases complicit in violence committed against populations. How can a major humanitarian crisis be managed in such cases?