Internally Displaced People
By the end of 2014, a record-breaking 38 million people had become displaced within their own country as a result of violence. A massive 11 million of them were newly uprooted during 2014 – equal to 30,000 people a day, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council's Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC).
UNHCR cared for around 26 million of the world's IDP population in 2014. The IDMC's Global Overview 2015 reported that the majority of the increase in new displacement during that year was the result of protracted crises in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Nigeria, South Sudan and Syria. In total, these five countries accounted for 60 per cent of new displacement worldwide.
Iraqi civilians suffered the most new displacement, with at least 2.2 million displaced in 2014, while at least 40 per cent of Syria's population, or 7.6 million people, have been displaced – the highest number in the world. Europe, for the first time in more than a decade, also suffered massive enforced displacement. This was caused by war in eastern Ukraine, where more than 640,000 people fled their homes.
Protection standards, guidance and tools
- Operational Review of UNHCR's Engagement in Situations of Internal Displacement Sep 2017
- IASC Operational Guidelines on the Protection of Persons in Situations of Natural Disasters, 2011 Jan 2011
- Integrating internal displacement in peace processes and agreements, Brookings Institution, 2010 Dec 2010
UNHCR Key policy documents
- UNHCR's Role in Support of an Enhanced Humanitarian Response to Situations of Internal Displacement: Update on UNHCR's Leadership Role Within the Cluster Approach and IDP Operational Workplans, EXCOM Informal Consultative Meeting, 25 May 2007 25 May 2007
- The Protection of Internally Displaced Persons and the Role of UNHCR, EXCOM Informal Consultative Meeting, 27 February 2007 27 Feb 2007
Law and policy relating to internal displacement
Internally Displaced People - Resources and Documents
- Policy and Guiding Documents
- UNHCR Planning on Internal Displacement
- UNHCR Reporting on Internal Displacement
Internally Displaced People - Useful Links
- Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
- Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement
- Inter-Agency Standing Committee
- Central Emergency Response Fund
- Relief Web