Global Overview 2015: People internally displaced by conflict and violence - Europe, The Caucasus and central Asia

Figures and causes of displacement

There were at least 2.8 million IDPs in the Balkans, Caucasus, central Asia, Cyprus, Turkey and Ukraine as of the end of 2014. Most were displaced decades ago as a result of armed conflict, generalised violence and human rights violations. In Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Russia, people first fled their homes in the late 1980s or early 1990s as a result of inter-ethnic conflict that accompanied the breakup of the Soviet Union and former Yugoslavia.

Displacement is more recent in Kosovo and Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYR Macedonia), where inter-ethnic conflict occurred in 1999 and 2001 respectively, and in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, where authorities forcibly relocated people in the early 2000s. People have been displaced the longest in Cyprus and Turkey, since 1974 and 1986 respectively. In Cyprus, people fled their homes to escape conflict and communal violence. In Turkey, they were displaced by internal armed conflict between the se- curity forces and the Kurdistan Workers' Party, village raids and forced evacuations by the authorities.

The number of IDPs in the region rose by more than 685,000 during 2014. The increase was mainly the result of Russia's annexation of Crimea in March and armed conflict between government and separatist forces in eastern Ukraine since April, which between them displaced at least 646,500 people. An increase of up to 25,500 was recorded in Azerbaijan and 26,100 in Georgia, where children born in displacement are eligible for status as IDPs.

The number of IDPs fell slightly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and FYR Macedonia as a result of returns, and in Russia because its five-year "forced migrant" status expired for some IDPs, which meant that people were no longer counted as IDPs regardless of whether they had achieved a durable solution. In the absence of new data for Armenia, Cyprus, Serbia, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, figures remained the same as in 2013. The latest figure for Turkey, from 2006, is at least 953,700, the highest in the region. FYR Macedonia had the fewest, with at least 200. No figures are available for the disputed territories of Nagorno Karabakh, Abkhazia and the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" (TRNC).

Displacement figures for the region are compiled using different methodologies and definitions of what constitutes an IDP. Kosovo and Ukraine are the only countries that regularly issue figures, though in both cases they combine different data collection methodologies. In Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Georgia, Russia and Ukraine, the authorities grant legal status to IDPs in accordance with their domestic laws and policy frameworks on displacement. Status is granted and maintained based on whether a person is physically displaced or not, rather than their needs.

The figure for Bosnia and Herzegovina is probably an underestimate, because many Roma IDPs, who are among the country's most vulnerable displaced people, often do not have the personal documents required for registration.^[178] In the other countries in the region, the current number of IDPs may be different from that given in the country figures table (see page 82) because figures are outdated. The figure for Serbia is the only one to broadly reflect the actual number of IDPs in need. It is based on a comprehensive profiling assessment in 2011, though the figure may have changed somewhat in the last three years. In Kosovo, a profiling exercise was initiated in 2014 to provide a more accurate picture of the number of IDPs in need. It is expected to be completed during 2015.

Data disaggregated by age and sex is available in just under half of the countries in the region: Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Georgia, Kosovo, Turkey and Ukraine. In most, there are slightly more male than female IDPs, except for Ukraine where many men have stayed behind to protect family property or have chosen not to register as an IDP for fear their flight may be interpreted as evidence of support for Kiev. Others considered the status incompatible with the responsibilities traditionally incumbent on men. Adult and elderly IDPs are mostly female, bearing testimony to the significance of femaleheaded households.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, a third of all households are headed by women,^[179] which may reflect the loss of male relatives during the conflict or labour migration abroad. In Kosovo, the displaced population is particularly young. Nearly 40 per cent of IDPs are children, not including those born in displacement. Ukraine has the highest percentage of elderly IDPs in the region.^[180] The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women noted in 2014 that the authorities in Georgia did not adopt a genderbased approach when providing services to IDPs.^[181]

New displacement

Ukraine was the only country in which conflict caused new displacement in 2014. People were first displaced from Crimea in March, and then others fled the east of the country in increasing numbers as the conflict intensified. There have been reports of torture and ill-treatment, sexual violence, forced disappearances, harassment and indiscriminate attacks on civilians in disputed areas.^[182] As the front lines in the conflict have shifted, the distances IDPs have to cover to reach safety have also changed. Humanitarian access has been restricted by insecurity and the cumbersome regulations and procedures put in place by the Ukrainian authorities.

In areas of refuge, registration centres for IDPs have provided accommodation, humanitarian assistance and psychosocial support. Available housing, however, has become scarcer as the conflict drags on, and the vast majority of IDPs have had to seek refuge in private accommodation. This has proved a costly option for people whose financial situation was already compromised by Kiev's decision to freeze all financial transactions in separatist-held territories, which has meant that salaries and pensions have not been paid for months.^[183] Crimean Tatars and Roma have been discriminated against, both in their places of origin and refuge.^[184]

Protection issues

Many IDPs remain displaced in the region because they are unable to access adequate housing. The vast majority live in private accommodation that they rent, share, own or otherwise occupy. Little is known about their living conditions except for in Georgia, where some in private accommodation endure dire conditions.^[185] Homeowners have been excluded from government housing assistance, which they feel is unfair because their living conditions can be just as bad as those in collective centres.^[186]

Some IDPs in Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Russia and Serbia have been living in collective centres for 20 years. Initially provided as temporary accommodation, living conditions have deteriorated over the years to the point of becoming a health and safety risk, despite numerous repairs to leaking roofs, broken sewage systems and dilapidated shared kitchens and bathrooms.^[187] Over time those who were able find alternative housing moved out, but many others – particularly elderly people, those with physical or mental disabilities, the chronically ill and people traumatised by gender-based violence – have been unable to secure other accommodation on their own.

Although not included in IDP figures in this report, returned IDPs continued to face protection issues in their places of origin in 2014. In Kosovo, they included insecurity, inadequate housing, poor infrastructure, limited opportunities to become self-reliant^[188] and hostile statements by municipal authorities about Serbs and Roma.^[189] Many returnees in Bosnia and Herzegovina have only been able to partially reconstruct their homes and the education system in some areas remains ethnically focused.

In Georgia some people in return areas were detained for crossing the fences set up by Russian forces since 2008 along the administrative border with South Ossetia in pursuit of their livestock.^[190] The fences, combined with poor infrastructure, loss of access to firewood, land and cattle, and the closure of markets, also worsen returned IDPs' living conditions.

Returned IDPs in Abkhazia have faced an increased presence of Russian border guards too in recent years, when they cross into Georgia proper. They also continue to struggle to obtain birth certificates, passports and other documents required to make the crossing, restricting their access to better healthcare, markets, allowances and family visits. Some have crossed illegally and have been detained temporarily.

IDPs across the region struggle to access livelihoods and regain their selfreliance. Few have long-term jobs, and access to credit and land is difficult. Their coping mechanisms have included incurring debts, eating less, taking their children out of school and, in Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey, child labour. The majority of IDPs rely on social benefits as their main source of income.^[191]

Given that their needs related to their displacement have not been met after so many years, it is feared that some IDPs, such as those with disabilities or suffering trauma, may never be able to achieve selfreliance and will require specialised care, as has been the case in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Georgia. Others lack the initiative to improve their financial situation on their own after years of dependence on aid. They require targeted support to develop the confidence, skills and motivation needed to regain their self-reliance.

Durable solutions

Some IDPs in the region have been displaced more than once, interrupting their pursuit of durable solutions. In Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, IDPs who had previously fled conflict were displaced again in 2014 by the worst floods on record. Multiple displacement is not new to the region, where people displaced in the 1990s had to move again in the following years as unresolved simmering conflicts in Georgia, Russia and Turkey flared up again. Multiple displacement has further eroded the assets and coping mechanisms of those affected.

Hundreds of thousands of IDPs have returned, but many later moved back to their areas of refuge or on to a third location because of inadequate housing, a lack of jobs, limited access to services, poor infrastructure and insecurity, and in Kosovo and Turkey, the marginalisation of minority returnees.^[192] In some cases, IDPs have shuttled between their places of origin and refuge, while in others different family members chose different options. In Georgia, for example, some decided to return to Abkhazia to protect their property, while others stayed to access better jobs, schools and healthcare.

Displacement in the region has become increasingly protracted, primarily because of the absence of political solutions to conflicts. In Azerbaijan, Cyprus and Georgia, IDPs' places of origin are still not under government control. Peace negotiations continued in Azerbaijan and Georgia during 2014 and in Cyprus they resumed after a two-year break, but none produced tangible results. The return of IDPs to Nagorno Karabakh, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and TRNC was still impossible.

Unresolved property issues also obstruct the achievement of durable solutions, and in Azerbaijan and Georgia, remedies for restitution or compensation have not been instituted. They have, however, been put in place in Cyprus, where more than 750 cases had been settled by 2014, mainly in favour of compensation.^[193] Around 181,000 families in Turkey and more than 3,200 in Russia have received compensation, but the amount was not enough for them to rebuild their homes.^[194] In Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, some IDPs succeeded in legally recover- ing their property but did not return to it after discovering that it had been unlawfully occupied or that they could not afford to rebuild.^[195]

Others still have legal claims pending, complicated in Bosnia and Herzegovina by the fact that the defendant is an institution that no longer exists, and in Kosovo by authorities' ineffective response to fraudulent transactions and illegal occupation of empty reconstructed property. Access to justice for ethnic Serbs in Kosovo is hampered by lengthy and expensive proceedings, and the fact that courts do not recognise the Serbian language or property documents.^[196] In most countries, landless IDPs and those unable to document their previous residence have not been offered remedies, as has been the case for Roma IDPs in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo.

National and international response

National authorities in the region increasingly acknowledge local integration and settlement elsewhere as options for IDPs' durable solutions in addition to return. In 2014 the Georgian government continued to renovate collective centres and transfer ownership to IDPs, and to resettle others in alternative housing, sometimes building new apartments for them. In Serbia, the closure of all collective centres is planned by the end of 2015 and an EU-funded project is to build 60 new homes by 2016.^[197] Similar plans are in place in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where authorities were building social housing in 2014. The authorities in Kosovo said they intended to move IDPs from collective centres to improved accommodation and support return for those who wish to do so.^[198]

The governments in Georgia and Azerbaijan have paid IDPs a monthly allowance since the beginning of their displacement. In 2014, the Georgian authorities switched from making the payments in accordance with beneficiaries' status as IDPs to a system based on family income, a first in the region. The authorities in Armenia, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan failed to pay IDPs enough attention or respond to their needs. Humanitarian access to IDPs and returnees in Nagorno Karabakh, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Crimea remained limited, and information on their situation is scarce.

Decades of international humanitarian interventions geared towards short-term support have improved the lives of many IDPs. They have not, however, succeeded in ending displacement and such assistance has dwindled over the years as organisations move on to other crises. That said, the EU instrument for pre-accession assistance in the Balkans and other international initiatives have provided significant support for durable solutions.

Countries in the region should follow Serbia and Kosovo in conducting a profiling exercise of their IDPs to inform durable solutions programmes that correspond to their needs and wishes. The OSCE's protection checklist for displaced populations and affected communities was rolled out in Ukraine in 2014 and contributed to improved reporting on IDPs' protection issues, information that should be useful to the numerous agencies operating in the country.^[199]

Eight of the 13 countries in the region with displaced populations have adopted laws or policies on displacement. Georgia's Law on IDPs entered into force in March 2014, marking a major policy shift from status-based to needs-based assistance.^[200] It provides for the protection of IDPs' rights and their reintegration, takes the realities of protracted displacement into account and includes provisions for adequate rather than only temporary housing.

In October 2014, Ukraine adopted a resolution on the "registration of internally displaced persons from the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine and antiterrorist operation area" and the Law on IDPs' Rights and Freedoms. Both are important steps towards IDPs' protection, but their definitions of an IDP differ, leading to inconsistencies in the registration process and excluding some, such as those without Ukrainian citizenship. Kosovo does not have a legislative framework for IDPs' protection, but the results of its profiling exercise are expected to inform a discussion on the development of a law or policy.^[201]

178 Ministry of Finance and Treasury of Bosnia and Herzegovina and UN Country Team, Progress Towards the Realisation of Millennium Development Goals in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2013, available at: http://goo.gl/tJwthZ

179 Ministry of Finance and Treasury of Bosnia and Herzegovina and UN Country Team, 2013, op. cit.

180 Government of Ukraine, State Emergency Services, On the temporary accommodation of citizens of Ukraine who are temporarily displaced from the occupied territory and ATO region, 25 December 2014

181 UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, Concluding observations on the combined fourth and fifth reports of Georgia (CEDAW/C/GEO/CO/4-5) 24 July 2014, available at: http://goo.gl/iMgOzq

182 Human Rights Watch, Ukraine: Rebel Forces Detain, Torture Civilians, 28 August 2014, available at: http://goo.gl/CI2MSR

183 ZN.UA, National Bank orders to disable ATMs in occupied Donbas, 26 November 2014, available at: http://goo.gl/R7EGSJ; UNIAN, Kyiv suspends payment of pensions in militant-held Donbas, 1 December 2014, available at: http://goo.gl/KaESRI

184 OSCE, Situation Assessment Report on Roma in Ukraine and the Impact of the Current Crisis, 29 September 2014, available at: http://goo.gl/vdL1M5; Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation, Discrimination, Disappearances and Exile of Leaders – The Desperate Situation of the Crimean Tatars since Russia's Illegal Annexation of Crimea, 9 December 2014, available at: http://goo.gl/Pc8Wqk

185 NRC, Privately Accommodated IDPs in Georgia, 2013; Refugee Survey Quarterly, The Multiple Geographies of Internal Displacement: Georgia, 4 December 2014, available at: http://goo.gl/D2CEyt; UNHCR, Situation Analysis of IDPs in West Georgia, April 2014

186 UNHCR, IDP Monitoring Report for Imereti Region, 2014; NRC, A New Life: An Evaluation of the Norwegian Refugee Council Self-Help Private Accommodation Rehabilitation Model, 2011, available at: http://goo.gl/sG58B8

187 Council of Europe, Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons, Alternatives to Europe's substandard IDP and refugee collective centres, 5 May 2014, available at: http://goo.gl/q1yvou

188 Ibid

189 Council of Europe, Committee of Ministers, Resolution CM/ResCMN(2014)13 on the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities in Kosovo, 26 November 2014, available at: http://goo.gl/JR0OFL

190 UNHCR, Participatory Assessment on Human Security: Human Security in Shida Kartli, Imereti and Racha Villages, along the Dividing Line with South Ossetia, February 2014

191 NRC, 2013, op. cit.; IDMC, Azerbaijan: After more than 20 years, IDPs still urgently need policies to support full integration, 26 March 2014, available at: http://goo.gl/PibsMB

192 European Commission, Turkey Progress Report, October 2014, available at: http://goo.gl/z6Y Yiz

193 Immovable Property Commission, Monthly Bulletin, 31 December 2014

194 Email correspondence with Civic Assistance, 23 February 2014; Government of Turkey, Ministry of the Interior, General Directorate of Provincial Administration, see: http://goo.gl/ZGWeQt(Turkish)

195 Council of Europe, Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention of the Protection of National Minorities, Third Opinion on Bosnia and Herzegovina, 7 April 2014, available at: http://goo.gl/1KhJqv; Ministry of Finance and Treasury of Bosnia and Herzegovina and United Nations Country Team, op cit, 2013, available at: http://goo.gl/tJwthZ

196 UN General Assembly, Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, Chaloka Beyani: Follow-up mission to Serbia, including Kosovo (A/HRC/26/33/Add.2), 5 June 2014, available at: http://goo.gl/AZ0pT0

197 Housing Centre, Support to the Closure of Collective Centres Through Improving the Living Conditions of Refugees, internally Displaced Persons and Returnees (IPA 2012), no date; UN General Assembly, Human Rights Council, op cit

198 Blic, Jablanović: Preko 2000 raseljenih za povratak na KiM, 16 December 2014, available at: http://goo.gl/JKVCAa

199 OSCE, Protection Checklist: Addressing Displacement and Protection of Displaced Populations and Affected Communities along the Conflict Cycle: a Collaborative Approach, 18 February 2014, available at: http://goo.gl/y6Hdtl

200 Government of Georgia, Law of Georgia on Internally Displaced Persons – Persecuted from the Occupied Territories of Georgia, 1 March 2014 available at: http://goo.gl/0aJfBy

201 Republic of Kosovo, Strategy for Communities and Return 2014-2018, December 2013; Republic of Kosovo, Ombudsperson Institution, Annual Report 2013, 31 March 2014 available at: http://goo.gl/1Eecwn; Council of Europe, Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons, op cit