(NAMIBIA) MintPress – The African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) entered into force last week, making it the world’s first legally-binding treaty to specifically address the needs of IDPs.
Also known as the Kampala Convention, the 2009 treaty entered into force on Dec. 6 this year, one month after Swaziland became the 15th country to ratify the document. The instrument binds governments to provide legal protection for the well-being of those displaced within their home countries due to conflict, violence, natural disasters or development projects; the treaty also provides guidelines for the prevention of future displacement.
According to Bruce Mokaya Orina, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross’ delegation to the African Union, “As a legal document potentially binding all African countries – a quarter of the world’s states – the treaty represents a significant step forward in the protection and assistance of internally displaced people in Africa.”
While there has been an international convention for refugees displaced outside of their own countries since 1951, there has been no equivalent international document for persons displaced domestically. Under international law, it is the responsibility of each country to care for its own IDPs.
The closest the world has come to an international convention on IDPs was the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, a non-legally binding document that lays out the recommended responsibilities for states dealing with internal displacement. The document was presented to the U.N. Human Rights Commission in 1998.
The U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has undertaken much of the responsibility for aiding IDPs; however, no international body exists to solely protect the needs of the internally displaced. There is estimated to be at least twice as many IDPs as refugees worldwide. In Africa, IDPs outnumber refugees 4 to 1.
Chaloka Bayani, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, hails the Kampala Convention as “a milestone,” saying Africa has “demonstrated its leadership in addressing one of the most pressing humanitarian issues in the world.”
Of the 26 million persons internally displaced due to violence in 2011, UNHCR estimates at least 10 million live in Africa. At least another half million internally displaced persons due to natural disasters also reside in Africa.
To date, 37 African countries have signed their commitment to the document; yet, only 15 states have ratified the treaty, legally binding them to its contents.
Somalia (1.36 million) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (2.4 million), both among the top three countries with the largest IDP populations, have signed the convention, but have not yet ratified it. Sudan, with possibly the highest IDP population worldwide (2.4 million) is yet to sign the convention at all.
Growing concern for IDPs in the Congo
Since the Congo has not yet ratified the Kampala Convention, the country is only urged, but not yet legally obliged, to help prevent conflict likely to internally displace residents. Despite the country’s commitment to protect IDPs, recent conflict between M23 rebels and the Congolese government has forced hundreds of thousands of vulnerable residents to flee their homes.
U.N. figures state 130,000 people have been newly displaced by the recent fighting in and around the city of Goma. This is in addition to roughly 841,000 people who were already displaced in the region before the latest violence erupted. The International Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), reports there are more than 2.4 million IDPs living within the Congo.
Sebastian Albuja, IDMC’s head of African development, said that M23’s advance on Goma last month hit IDP camps hard. “They hit an internally displaced persons camp, the Kanyarucinya camp, forcing people to flee,” he said. Albuja reported, according to the Daily Maverick, that the camp of about 50,000 people was emptied in just a few hours.
Arian Edwards, a UNHCR spokesperson, said in a press briefing in Geneva that a recent attack on the Mugunga III camp outside of Goma left UNHCR officials particularly worried for the security of displaced people and aid workers in eastern Congo.
According to Edwards, the camp was surrounded by a large number of armed men who are suspected of raping six women and severely beating another. “The armed men then searched tents, stealing money, mobile phones and food that had been handed out earlier by WFP.”
“The incident highlights the need for security at sites for internally displaced people to be prioritized, along with improved humanitarian access so that such populations can be better cared for,” said Edwards.
While M23, a heavily armed rebel militia in eastern Congo, has been fighting government soldiers since April, MintPress reported that the group seized control of the city of Goma — eastern Congo’s financial capital — last month, after the army fled and United Nations peacekeepers failed to take action.
While M23 soldiers are said to have departed Goma on Dec. 1 in a regionally-brokered pullout, local residents are skeptical that peace will last.
Al Jazeera English reported that many residents in Goma believe the M23 fighters, largely suspected of receiving support from Rwanda, swapped in their fatigues for civilian clothing and will remain in Goma as “infiltrators.”
Thirty-three-year-old mechanic Thierry Bisimwa told Al Jazeera, “Look, I am Congolese. I am from this place. I can tell the difference between a civilian and a soldier. And for sure, they are here.” According to Bisimwa, “Taking off their uniform and putting on civilian dress is a strategy.”
If the government does not hold true to its negotiations with the rebels, the M23 attacks will likely return, inevitably forcing hundreds of thousands of more residents to become internally displaced.
Expanding the impact of the Kampala Convention
Megan Bradley, foreign policy fellow at the Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement, acknowledges there is still much to be done in implementing the Kampala Convention. “Bringing together the Kampala Convention has been an enormous accomplishment, but this is not the end of the process,” said Bradley.
“The challenge now is to transform these provisions into tangible improvements in the rights and wellbeing of IDPs across Africa,” she said.
Bradley believes concerted efforts must be made to encourage African countries that have not yet signed or ratified the Convention, such as the Congo, Sudan, South Sudan and the Ivory Coast, to do so as soon as possible.
Additionally, Bradley sees the importance of awareness initiatives and support from international organizations to ensure the convention is upheld. “Timely support from U.N. agencies, donors and other international actors will be critical to backstopping the leadership shown on this issue by the AU and its member states.”
The UNHCR Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of IDPs agrees with Bradley, stating, “Based on the spirit of partnership on which the Kampala Convention is founded, it is vital that the international and donor communities now support African States, the African Union and civil society in raising awareness and building the capacities to implement the Convention. ”
Bayani believes that “the significance of the Kampala Convention goes beyond Africa – as an international model this comprehensive convention represents the culmination of over two decades of work during which government, civil society and the international community have sought to improve the way we address the plight of millions of internally displaced persons across the globe.”
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said, “UNHCR, which played a role in the drafting of the Convention, supports governments in taking measures in domesticating the provisions of the Convention. ”
Guterres added in a press statement, “This is historic, and not just for Africa. Around the world, the number of people forced into displacement within their own countries is growing. The Kampala Convention puts Africa in a leading position when it comes to having a legal framework for protecting and helping the internally displaced.”