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Exodus within Borders: The Uprooted Who Never Left HomeAuthor(s): Roberta Cohen and Francis M. DengReviewed work(s):Source: Foreign Affairs, Vol. 77, No. 4 (Jul. - Aug., 1998), pp. 12-16Published by: Council on Foreign RelationsStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20048961 .

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Exodus within Borders

The Uprooted Who Never Left Home

Roberta Cohen and FrancisM. Deng

Tens ofmillions of people have been

forced from their homes during the past

decade by armed conflict, internal strife,

and systematic violations of humanrights,

all the while remaining within the borders

of their own countries. No continent has

been spared. Africa todaycounts about

10 million internally displaced persons,

Europeand Asia some

5million

each,and Latin America up to 2million.

These masses inflight?who,

unlike

refugees,have not crossed a border?

constitute the newestglobal crisis.

Internaldisplacement always has

severe humanitarian implications. These

displaced personsare at the greatest risk

of starvation, have the highestrates of

preventable disease, and are the most

vulnerable to humanrights

abuses. Inter

naldisplacement

is asymptom of state

dysfunction that poses a threat topolitical

and economic stabilityat the national and

international levels. Both the communities

left behind and the towns and villages in

which the displaced find refuge are often

ravaged. In some cases, somany people flee

that whole societies areuprooted. Violence

andinstability

canspread through entire

regions, forcing neighboringstates to bear

the brunt of massiverefugee flows. Even

countries continents away may have to

contend with awave of desperate refugees.

Today'scrisis of internal

displacementis no less acute than the refugee crisis that

confrontedEurope after World War II.

Then, humanitarian needs coupled with

practical political and economic interests

brought about asystem of international

protection and assistance for those dis

placed outside their native countries. In

1951,the position of United Nations HighCommissioner for Refugees

was created

and aU.N. refugeeconvention

adopted.

Today,unhcr has a staff of 5,000, an

annual budget of more than $1 billion,

and 13.2million refugeesin its care.

But those forced from their homes

who remain under their government's

Robe rta Cohen is aGuest Scholar at the Brookings Institution. Francis

M. Deng is a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and has served

asRepresentative

of the U.N. Secretary-Generalon

Internally Displaced

Persons since 1992. This article is based on their forthcoming book, Masses

inFlight: The Global Crisis ofInternalDisplacement.

[12]



ARCHIVE PHOTOS

So near,yet

so

far:

The U.N.

helps

those who cross borders, Rwanda,i??o

jurisdictionare not covered by any inter

national arrangements. Although their

numbers now exceed those of refugees,no international institution is

specifically

chargedwith their protection

or assistance.

The absurdity is that if these people had

crossed a border, they would fall under

U.N. protection.

A COLD WAR LEGACY

Internal displacement became asubject

of international concern in the late 1980s.

When the numbers were first compiledin 1982,1.2 million people

were estimated

to bedisplaced

in 11 countries. Four years

later the total had grown to 14million.

Since the early 1990s, the numbers havefluctuated between 20 million and 25

million in 35 to 40 countries.

The majorreason for this dramatic

increase was the rise in internal conflicts

as the Cold War came to a close. The

proxywars the superpowers fought in the

1980s displaced millions of people who

came into full view only asColdWar

tensions eased inAngola, Mozambique,

Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Cambodia, and ElSalvador. The arms the United States and

the Soviet Union had supplied to regimesor

oppositionmovements furnished the

weaponry for the ethnic and clan warfare

that broke out once the superpowers

departed. Liberia and Somalia, two

countries that plungedinto civil war,

were among the largest recipients of

U.S. military assistance in sub-SaharanAfrica during the 1980s. In

Europe and

Central Asia, the collapse of the Soviet

FOREIGN AFFAIRS July/August998 [13]



Roberta Cohen and Francis M.Deng

Union lifted the lid on nationalist aspirations and ethnic rivalries that displaced

millions more.

Elsewhere, vastdisparities

inwealth,

land ownership,and power have been at the

root of conflict. In Rwanda and Burundi,

high population density and limited fertile

land exacerbated tensions between Hutus

and Tutsis. In Colombia, conflict over

land has forced hundreds of thousands

from their homes. In other cases, struggles

between governments and minoritieshave

producedmass

displacement.In

Sudan, which has the world's largest

internally displaced population, the efforts

of successive northern governmentsto

impose Islam on the black African south

have made four millionpeople

homeless.

In Turkey, which has the second-largest

displaced population, government repres

sion

against

the Kurdish

minority

has sent

two million people fleeingfor their lives.

The 1990s have seen greater willingnesson the part of the international community

to intervene in these situations, even

without the consent of the government

concerned. A major motivation has been

the desire to forestall international flows

of refugees. As the number of refugees

has grown, Western governmentsaswell

as those inAfrica and elsewhere have

become less welcomingto those in flight.

Their focus has shifted to keeping peoplein their homelands. The U.N. Security

Council justified the international com

munity's precedent-settingintervention

on behalf of the Kurds in Iraq in 1991on the

groundsthat massive flows of

refugees threatened international peace

and security. Subsequent Security

Council resolutions on Somalia, Bosnia,

and Rwanda have also authorized the

use of force to facilitate the delivery of

relief and, in the latter two cases, to protect

internally displaced populations.

Nonetheless, the principles of

sovereignty, territorial integrity, and

noninterference in the internal affairs of

states present formidable obstacles to

interventionby international organizations.

While somegovernments, such as Sri

Lanka, invite international assistance,

others deliberately bar humanitarian aid,

seeing it asstrengthening their opponents

and undermining their authority. Sudan,for example,

has obstructed humanitar

ian aid, while Turkey has blocked all

international assistance to its displaced

citizens. Some countries have deliberately

starved the displaced while invoking their

sovereigntyto

keepthe international

communityat

bay.

REDEFINING TERMS

A response to such conduct requiresa

broadly recognized standards and arrange

ments toguide

the actions of governments

and international humanitarian agencies.

The definition of sovereignty should be

broadened to include responsibility:a

state can claim the prerogatives of sover

eignty onlyso

longas it carries out its

internationally recognized responsibilities

to provide protection and assistance to its

citizens. Failure to do so should legitimize

the involvement of the international

community. States that refuse access to

populationsat risk could expect calibrated

actions ranging from diplomacyto

political

pressure, sanctions, and, as a last resort,

military intervention.

Earlier this year, the representativeof

the U.N. secretary-general on internally

displaced persons outlined guiding prin

ciples for the rights of the displaced and

the duties and obligations of states and

[14] FOREIGN AFFAIRS VolumejyNo.4



Exodus within Borders

insurgent groups. These principlesinclude

aright

not to be arbitrarily displaced,

access to humanitarian assistance and

protection while in flight, and guarantees

of reparations upon returning home.

While the principles lack legal force,

they set standards that should put both

governments and insurgent groups on

notice and give international and non

governmental organizations (ngos) a

basis for legitimate action. The United

Nations' acknowledgment of these prin

ciples and call for their observance would

be animportant step forward.

A PICK-AND-CHOOSE POLICY?

During the last ten years, an array of

humanitarian, human rights, and devel

opment organizations have come forward

toprovide protection, assistance, and

r?int?gration

and

development

aid to the

internally displaced. The efforts of inter

national agencies and the ngos that work

alongside them arebeing

coordinated by

theU.N. Office for theCoordination of

Humanitarian Affairs. Nonetheless,

many internally displaced persons remain

neglected because the international re

sponse is largely ad hoc. Various agencies

pick and choose the situations inwhich

they wish to become involved; no organi

zation has aglobal

orcomprehensive

mandate to protect the displaced. The

result is that the needs of the displacedare

met tovarying degrees

in some countries

and not at all in others.

The United Nations' best option is a

moretargeted approach

that takes advan

tage of existing mandates and capacities.

The U.N. emergency relief coordinatorcould assign principal responsibility in

each emergency to one international

agency, assisted byaU.N. coordinating

mechanism. When asingle agency has

been made responsiblefor a group of

internally displaced people, greaterattention has been paid

to their needs.

Since 1992 arepresentative of the

secretary-general has been authorized to

monitor displacement worldwide, under

takefact-finding missions, open dialogue

with governments, and make proposals

for strengthening legal and institutional

protection for the internally displaced.

He has raised internationalawareness

andmobilized support from governments,

foundations, academia, and the legal and

NGO communities. The position's effec

tiveness, however, is limited because it is

voluntary and part-time. It has no opera

tional authority and minimal human and

material resources at itsdisposal. The

capacity of the representativeto act in

crises can be

strengthened only

if the

United Nations provides staff and re

sources commensurate with the task.

To date, the international community

has focused onproviding food, shelter,

andmedical supplies.Yet displaced personshave regularly pointed

out that security is

asgreat

apriority

as food. Providingre

lief to uprooted people while ignoringthe fact they

arebeing beaten or

raped

has led some to call the victims the "well

fed dead." U.N. human rights activities are

slowly being integrated into humanitarian

programs. A next step would be for the

newly appointed High Commissioner

for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, to

deploy field staffduring internal displacement crises to monitor

security problems,serve in safe areas and camps, and pro

mote safety during their return home.Humanitarian assistance and

development

agencies of allstripes will also have

to become moreresponsible for protecting

FOREIGN AFFAIRS -July/August 998 [15]



Roberta Cohen and Francis M.Deng

thepeople they assist. Many have silently

witnessed abuses because of exaggerated

fears that confronting a host government

will result inexpulsion of their

personnel

and termination of their programs. The

effort would be strengthened if govern

ments and insurgent groups were made

aware that theywere

dealing with a united

front bound bycommon human rights

and humanitarian standards.

MUSCLE AND MONEY

In recent years, military interventions

have been more successful inpreventing

starvation than inphysically defending

peopleat risk. This failure underscores

the need for strategiesto prevent genocide

and other crimes against humanitythat

lead todisplacement. Early

action must

be encouraged when there arewarning

signs,

as there were inRwanda,

and forces

chargedwith protecting the displacedmust have the equipment, training, and

mandates needed toaccomplish their task,

which was not the case in Bosnia.

Unless accompanied by stepsto address

the causes of crises, military solutions are

only temporary. Humanitarian assistance

alone canprolong conflicts. Conflict and

internal displacementcan be resolved

only through a broader commitment to

thepeaceful management and mediation

of disputes.

Since today's conflicts take place

mainly withindeveloping

countries and

may goon for decades, international

development and financial institutions

cannot afford to wait until they burn

themselves out.By getting involved early

on, these organizations stand a better

chance of influencingthe outcome and

helping laya foundation for a transition

to peace. Even when societies are still in

conflict, theycan

help stabilize the situation

and make r?int?grationmore

likely.

In countries devastated by civil wars,

up to half thepopulation

can beuprooted.

Whether inMozambique, Angola,

Afghanistan, Cambodia, or El Salvador,

the rehabilitation of areas affected by

conflict requires the r?int?gration of

uprooted populations. An expanded role

for internationaldevelopment and financial

institutions inpost-conflict

reconstruction

could influence the way these societies

reintegrate displaced populations. A globalreconstruction fund would be an

important

step toward assuring such transitions.

Efforts by international development

programs and financial institutions to

redress economic inequities could also

help prevent future strife.

Conflicts that are allowed to fester can

produce

mass

displacementand leave

political and economic scars that damage

the economicwell-being

and political

security of neighboring states, regions,

and the international systemas awhole.

The world communitycannot let this

newestchallenge go unchecked.?

[l6] FOREIGN AFFAIRS VolumeyyNo.4

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