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Position Paper

Somalia Protection Cluster

Relocating the Internally Displaced in an Urban Setting A Protection Cluster Position

Background In Somalia, the internally displaced (IDPs) have traditionally gravitated for a multiple of reasons to urban settings, where in some cases, they have remained for decades. Depending on location, IDPs have either settled in public buildings, live with relatives within the host community, or congregate into self-established settlements located either on public or private land. The increasing trend towards urbanisation of the IDP population means that many people who had been displaced from rural areas do not automatically return to their rural areas but often move to the nearest town in their area of origin, or integrate as best as possible in the town of displacement. This phenomenon places undue stress on the already overstretched and limited urban services, and hampers effective urban planning. In addition to guidelines drafted by UNHCR/OCHA on relocation in Puntland, during the course of the last two years, the Humanitarian Country Team for Somalia (HCT-S) issued two position papers specifically on IDP relocation. One paper dealt with evictions from public buildings; while the other focused on the consolidation of existing settlements into camps.1 Though both HCT-S papers focused on Mogadishu, the Protection Cluster takes the position that the principles listed in the UNHCR/OCHA and HCT-S papers apply to any urban setting in Somalia. Protection Cluster Position The Protection Cluster offers the following considerations to assist in decision-making processes concerning the relocation of displaced populations. At the Humanitarian Community Level The humanitarian communitys direct or indirect participation in establishing a camp prompts a level of duty-of-care towards the IDPs that it will be obligated to discharge. Expectations vis--vis type and quality of services provided are borne out of the humanitarian communitys internationally accepted standards when establishing camps and providing assistance and services therein. Even where the humanitarian communitys engagement is marginal, peripheral or indirect, the humanitarian community must be confident that it can discharge its commitment, and must put in place accountability mechanisms that ensure that international standards are met. From the outset, the humanitarian community, in consultations with the national authorities should develop a clear exit strategy, which includes considerations on how long IDPs are projected to remain in the camp, and makes provision for IDPs who choose not to return but to integrate locally.

Proposed Consolidation of IDP Settlement into Camps in Mogadishu (HCT-S, 23 August 2011); Evictions in Mogadishu (HCT-S, 12 March 2012) & Guidelines on Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Relocation (UNHCR/OCHA, 10 May 2010)

Page 1 of 3 Drafted: 21 July 2012

Position Paper
Somalia Protection Cluster

At National Level The lack of any normative or national policy framework addressing internal displacement is a concern and should be prioritised by the Somali Government, in line with international and regional principles.2 The ultimate goal of the Somali Government, supported by the humanitarian community, should be to establish durable solution mechanisms, which for many IDPs might mean returning to their places of origin when conditions allow. National authorities should ensure that development plans recognise that many IDPs have lived in a protracted situation and may wish to remain in cities / towns to be part of an urbanised population rather than return to their place of origin; and therefore, any urban planning strategies must take this fact into account. A comprehensive and participatory consultation process with IDP populations, as contemplated in the Kampala Convention should be undertaken as soon as practicable. National authorities have the primary responsibility to ensure security and to provide assistance. The responsibility of the international community is subsidiary to that of the national authority.

Considerations Addressing an influx of IDPs by setting-up camps should be seen as one of several options to accommodate IDPs in an urban environment. It should be considered as a measure of last resort, unless the IDPs themselves consider a camp to be the most advantageous setting for them to live in. As the HCT noted, the establishment and running of IDP camps entail very high costs, pose security challenges, create dependency, and potentially create pull factors. The protracted nature of a large proportion of the displaced population risks transforming a camp into an urban slum. Additionally, camps tend to isolate IDPs from the local community and can result in marginalisation or social disharmony. Experience has shown that as a result of the perceived ease of providing services in a camp setting, IDP communities outside a camp setting may be neglected by humanitarian actors. Equally, disadvantaged local communities, such as the urban poor, may not be able to access services provided within a camp, or are neglected outright. IDP camps do not, per se, translate into improved security for IDPs. For example, the Somalia National Police in Mogadishu suffers from institutional, material, and numerical limitation that makes it exceedingly difficult for them to dedicate resources to camp protection. In many parts of the country, there is a total absence of a professional police force, or as in Puntland and Somaliland the police force is simply under-resourced. Given these limitations, the provision of security in a camp setting will most likely be below the quality of security that IDPs and the humanitarian community will consider adequate. Guarantees of civilian police deployment, training and civilian oversight will have to be sought and constantly monitored. As a result of possible inadequate security, a key consideration of moving people to a camp is whether such an action would violate the do no harm principle.
Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (1998) Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons (2009) (Kampala Convention) -- Somalia is a signatory to the Kampala Convention and has ratified but not yet (as of June 2012) deposited the Convention the AU. As of June, the Kampala Convention has been signed by 37 countries and ratified by 13. It requires two additional signatures and ratifications for it come into force.

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Position Paper
Somalia Protection Cluster

Best Practices IDPs should be assisted where they reside, and efforts should be made to support IDPs to improve and build on established protective environments that IDPs have created for themselves. What that environment will look like will depend what the major protection concerns are in each location. While possibly more complex for the humanitarian community to manage, this approach allows IDPs to live their lives as they see fit. It neither disrupts their livelihood activities, nor creates a dependency culture, while fostering resilience and self-sufficiency strategies. If consolidation or creation of new camps is deemed to be the only viable solution, basic human rights principles and protection standards such as participation in the decisionmaking process, freedom of informed choice of residence and non-discrimination must be strictly adhered to. In practice, this translates into four main points: a) Accommodation in camps should be voluntary and never coerced or made a precondition for accessing assistance; b) Alternative means of accessing assistance should be established for IDPs that choose to live elsewhere; c) All displaced people, regardless of their sex or age, should be included in assistance initiatives, and be given access to all available services, with accountability structures in place to monitor this access to assistance; and d) Accountability mechanisms to address aid diversion are in place so that aid does not encourage illegal activities. Organisations or individuals engaged in aid diversion should be banned from future humanitarian work. In addition to establishing structures to ensure that the basic needs of the IDPs are met in a camp, national authorities and the humanitarian community if supporting, must put in place special measures to ensure, at the very minimum: a. Effective protection against all violence, including harassment, gender based violence, threats, or armed attack - complaint mechanisms should be in place; b. Preservation of the freedom of movement of IDPs without financial or other penalties (entering and exiting the camp and within the camp itself); c. Gender-, age-, and disability-sensitive protection for vulnerable people (e.g. separate sanitary facilities for women and children); in other words, proper site planning in the urban context; and d. Access to education and health facilities. To prevent the possibility of intra-communal strife due to the establishment of camps, it is necessary that a camp is welcomed by the host population. All key stakeholders, including the IDPs themselves, must be fully involved from the outset in meaningful consultations and decision-making processes.

Conclusion Over the last decade, the global migratory trend has been towards living in urban centres, and Somalias IDPs are no different. Whether the durable solution is for IDPs to stay where they are, move within the urban area, or return to their place of origin, will be a decision IDPs have to make for themselves.

Page 3 of 3 Drafted: 21 July 2012

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