The number of displaced people around the world has increased consistently over the past 10 years. The total number doubles every seven or eight years and this upward trend shows no sign of declining.

There are currently around 37 million uprooted people in the world, forced to flee their homes and seek shelter elsewhere, usually because of war, economic or natural disasters. Of these, more than 22 million are internally displaced within their country and approximately 15 million are refugees, who have fled to another country.

When population movement occurs, it is important to immediately distinguish whether those moving are asylum seekers, refugees, migrants or internally displaced people. The distinction is important since support mechanisms and the legal status of the people can affect the response operation.

The definitions of moving and displaced people include:

• Refugees and asylum seekers
  Refugees are people moving outside their country of origin - often in mass exodus - for reasons of conflict and now increasingly, natural disasters.
  According to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee is a person who "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country." Displaced people who cross a border but are not accorded refugee status are asylum seekers.

• Internally displaced people (IDPs)
  Internally displaced persons (IDPs) are "persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border" (OCHA - The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement).

• Migrants
  An often neglected but substantial moving population is made up of people displaced by factors other than armed conflict - people forced to move by a natural disaster, economic hardship, the formation of a new country or changing national boundaries. These people are migrants. Refugees and internally or internationally displaced persons require both protection and assistance. Protection encompasses both legal protection and protection from harm.

The responsibility for refugees and all displaced persons primarily rests with the host government. It is the mandate of the UNHCR - The UN Refugee Agency to protect and assist refugees. The World Food Programme (WFP) has a mandate to feed any refugee population exceeding 5,000 although it may require assistance with distribution, or short term assistance with supplies, pending the establishment of its pipeline. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) and those not accorded refugee status have no particular organisation or legal statute to protect them.

Within the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is the lead agency in a conflict zone, supported by National Societies. In such instances, the Federation is likely to have a supporting role in capacity building or other areas of its expertise. For non-conflict areas and natural disasters, the Federation is the lead agency and will provide assistance.

Red Cross Red Crescent operations respond to needs and vulnerabilities, regardless of the categorisation of those in need. They seek to provide some or all of the following: material and social assistance; protection against mistreatment; and advocacy for refugees' and IDPs' rights. They also take into account the impact on the surrounding population.

In general, the immediate and short term Red Cross Red Crescent response to a sudden population movement prioritizes : safe water and basic sanitation; emergency medical care and basic health services; temporary shelter; the organisation of food distributions and other urgently needed items.

Displacement, whatever its cause, is always traumatic meaning psychological support should always be foreseen.

Population movements usually escalate slowly but fast large-scale population movements have been seen in the last decades, for example, the Great Lakes in 1994 and the Balkans. When population movements occur, initially teams determine whether those moving are refugees, economic migrants, internally displaced people or asylum seekers. This needs to be identified since support mechanisms and the legal status of the people can affect the response operation.

Population movements demand comprehensive relief support. Camps can house more than 200,000 people - involving many non-governmental organisations working together - or can be smaller, sheltering 20-30,000 people, in which case they are often managed by one or two organisations (such as the Federation).

Documents available:

• Case study: Population movement and the Nepal Red Cross Society | en español
• Case study: Bangladesh: Population movement and the Chittagong Hill Tracts development programme | en español

Related useful links:

International Federation | General | Academic | UN-related | NGOs

International Federation

• PERCO - Platform for European Red Cross Cooperation on Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Migrants
• The VIth European Red Cross and Red Crescent Regional Conference in Berlin: 14 – 19 April 2002: Focus on migrants

General

• Oneworld: Guides on migration
  OneWorld is a community of over 1600 organisations promoting human rights awareness and fighting poverty worldwide.
• HPN - Humanitarian Practice Network
  The Humanitarian Practice Network (HPN) was launched in 1994 in response to research that indicated substantial gaps between practitioners and policy makers in the humanitarian field, as well as serious weaknesses in the ability of the sector to learn and become more knowledge-based. Its purpose is to stimulate critical analysis, advance the professional learning and development of those engaged in and around humanitarian action, and improve practice.

Academic

• Refugee case law site, University of Michigan
  The purpose of this site is to promote transnational analysis of refugee law by advocates, decision-makers, and policymakers committed to the effective implementation of international standards.
• ERCOMER - Research Center on Migration and Ethnic Relations
  ERCOMER is a European research centre with a strong interest in comparative research in the fields of international migration, ethnic relations, racism and ethnic conflict within the European context. We are based at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Utrecht University, the Netherlands.
• RefLaw - International Journal of Refugee Law
  Published by Oxford University Press
• Oxford University Refugee Studies Centre
  The Refugee Studies Centre (RSC) is part of the University of Oxford's International Development Centre at Queen Elizabeth House. Its objectives are to carry out multidisciplinary research and teaching on the causes and consequences of forced migration; to disseminate the results of that research to policy makers and practitioners, as well as within the academic community; and to understand the experience of forced migration from the point of view of the affected populations.
• Forced Migration Review
  The in-house journal of the Refugee Studies Centre, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford. Forced Migration Review is a 48-page magazine published three times a year in English, Spanish and Arabic. Produced in collaboration with the Global IDP Project of the Norwegian Refugee Council, FMR is circulated to some 4,500 individuals and organisations worldwide. Readers include refugees and IDPs, academics, NGOs, research institutes, donors, inter-governmental and governmental agencies.

UN-related

• UNHCR - The UN Refugee Agency
  The protection of refugees is the core mandate of UNHCR. The agency does this in several ways. Using the 1951 Geneva Refugee Convention as its major tool, it ensures the basic human rights of vulnerable persons and that refugees will not be returned involuntarily to a country where they face persecution.
• UNWRA - UN Relief and Works Agency
  The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) provides education, health, and relief and social services to 4.1 million registered Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
• IOM - International Organisation for Migration
  The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is committed to the principle that humane and orderly migration benefits migrants and society. As an intergovernmental body, IOM acts with its partners in the international community to: Assist in meeting the operational challenges of migration; Advance understanding of migration issues; Encourage social and economic development through migration; Uphold the human dignity and well-being of migrants.

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs)

• IRC, International Rescue Committee
• ECRE - European Council on Refugees and Exiles
• Human Rights Watch, Refugees
• RHRC - Reproductive Health for Refugees Consortium
• Danish Refugee Council
• USCR - US Committee for Refugees
• American Refugee Committee
• The Refuge Media Project

Related Red Cross / Red Crescent operations:

• Chad operation (2003).
• Iraq humanitarian crisis (2003).
• Humanitarian crisis in the Middle East (2006).