Displaced person

From ArticleWorld

Displaced persons are the people who has been forced to leave their homes in their country of nationality, because of war, violence, human rights abuse or political persecution. Natural disasters can also lead to displacing people such as earthquakes, floods, or drought.

Origin of the term

During and after the World War II thousands of Jews and refugees from Eastern Europe were displaced in camps, and the term was used to refer to anyone who was removed from his native country. The words forced migrant or refugee are also used to mean a displaced person.

International law

If the displaced person has crossed an international border, he is then defined as an asylum seeker or a refugee. The person who is forced to leave his home, but did not cross the borders of his original country is defined as internal displaced person (IDP).

Refugee or asylum seeker should not be confused with economic migrant, where the later is the person who leaves his country only because of economic hardship. In addition, a person who crosses international borders without a legal permission from the country is defined as an illegal immigrant. Unfortunately, sometimes countries apply those terms by mistake to people who flee their countries out of fear for their lives and should be legally protected under the international law. One of the important cases are the 200,000 – 300,000 North Koreans who left their homes and settled in the border region of China. Though the international community considers them as refugees, China refuses to recognize them as legitimate refugees and label them as illegal economic migrants.

People are often displaced due to many reasons whether they are natural or man-made. Because the internal displaced persons are still within the boarders of their countries, international protection is limited. Though the IDPs are not protected under a special UN convention as is the case of refugees, they are still protected under national laws, international humanitarian law and human rights law. Other countries and international organizations such as the UNHCR and the Red Cross usually offer humanitarian aid and disaster relief to help mitigate the effects of the displacement.