Internally Displaced Persons and Refugees: Toward a Legal Synthesis?

Abstract

The number of internally displaced persons now exceeds that of refugees. Although both categories of people are coerced or compelled to flee their homelands in fear for life, liberty and security, only refugees are entitled to systematic international protection and assistance under existing international treaties and instruments, which require the crossing of international borders as a prerequisite. This despite the fact that internally displaced persons often suffer more than refugees. Such a prerequisite may be challenged on historical, practical, juridical and human rights grounds, whose validity is examined in this paper. The paper concludes with a strong plea for reconsidering the use of the crossing of international borders as a prerequisite to systematic international protection and assistance of people forcibly displaced from their homes.

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