Unit created for internally displaced persons

The United Nations has set up a unit to deal with internally displaced persons (IDPs). "The new unit has been created to respond to the severe crisis of internal displacement around the world," Kenzo Oshima, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said on Tuesday. The UN estimates that about 20 million to 25 million people throughout the world have been displaced within their countries by man-made disasters, and another 25 million by natural disasters. "These populations require the support of the international community to meet their urgent humanitarian needs and find durable solutions to their predicament," the UN stated. The unit - to be headed by Kofi Asomani, Director and Special Coordinator on Internal Displacement - will have its head office in Geneva with a liaison function in New York. It will coordinate closely with Francis Deng, the Representative of the Secretary-General on Internally Displaced Persons, and includes staff seconded from the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UN Development Programme, UN Children’s Fund, World Food Programme and nongovernmental organisations. In May 2001, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers stressed the importance of a clear system for allocating responsibilities among UN and other humanitarian agencies for the provision of help to IDPs in need. He also stated that involvement in situations of internal displacement must be accompanied by an effort to resolve the political problems which caused the crises in the first place. UNHCR’s current mandate specifically covers refugees - people forced by conflicts or persecution to flee across borders. The agency is permitted to protect people displaced within their own countries, but in limited circumstances only. These include a specific request from the UN Secretary-General or another appropriate UN body, and the consent of the states or parties involved in the conflict concerned. To date, UNHCR has been requested to assist IDPs in the following circumstances: where they were located in the same areas as refugees; where returned refugees were later displaced; where helping IDPs had a stabilising impact for the prevention of refugee crises; or where IDPs had protection solutions similar to refugees.