The Internally Displaced Person in International Law

While the plight of persons displaced within the borders of states has emerged as a global concern, not much attention has been given to this specific category of persons in international legal scholarship. Unlike refugees, internally displaced persons remain within the states in which they are displaced. Current statistics indicate that there are more people displaced within state borders than persons displaced outside states. Romola Adeola examines the protection of the internally displaced person under international law, considering existing legal regimes at various levels of governance and institutional mechanisms for internally displaced persons.

Romola Adeola, Senior Research Associate, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Refugee Law Initiative, University of London, UK, coordinates the Global Engagement Network on Internal Displacement in Africa (GENIDA) and is a Fellow at the Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, South Africa