By Corrine Scotland
There are an estimated 11.8 million IDPs in 19 African countries, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC). Although Africa still hosts almost a half of the world's total number of IDPs, which stands at 26 million, the ratio of IDPs to the region's total population has fallen significantly.
The IDMC, the leading body tracking conflict-induced internal displacement around the world, reports in a 2008 global overview that no new conflicts in Africa caused displacement that year, apart from violence in Kenya. The new displacement of 5 million people last year was not the consequence of new but of ongoing or recurring conflicts and crises.
MOST SEVERE IDP SITUATIONS ACROSS AFRICA
Three out of five of the worldÂ?s largest internal displacement situations are in the African regions of Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Somalia. The remaining two highest IDP populations in the world are found in Colombia and Iraq.
SUDAN Â? Sudan has the largest reported IDP population. Sudan currently has about 4.9 million displaced people Â? thatÂ?s just over 12% of the countryÂ?s population. The recently ended civil war in the south of Sudan, fighting in the west in Darfur and unrest in the east are the underlying causes for this large scale displacement. The UN estimates that in 2009, 250,000 people in southern Sudan have been displaced by inter-tribal violence while 2,000 have been killed.
DRC Â? During the first half of 2009, fighting between militia and Congolese armed forces supported by the UN, as well as direct attacks and violence, have caused the displacement of some 800,000 people in eastern DRC. An estimated two million IDPs are displaced as of July 2009. Displacement in the country peaked in 2003 when an estimated 3.4 million people were forced from their homes, most of them in eastern DRC.
SOMALIA Â? Some 1.3 million are displaced in Somalia as a result of the insurgency that has been raging since the start of 2007. In 2009, a report by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees said 204,000 people have become IDPs as a direct result of escalating conflict in Mogadishu. Until six months ago the World Food Programme was delivering food to 36,000 IDPs Â? it cancelled its support after four aid workers were killed.
UGANDA Â? The signing of a Cessation of Hostilities Agreement between the government of Uganda and the LordÂ?s Resistance Army in 2006 prompted hundreds of thousands of the 1.8 million IDPs who lived in camps at the height of the crisis to return to their areas of origin. Thanks to the return of these IDPs, UgandaÂ?s IDP population fell to below 900,000 at the end of 2008 and now stands at just under 500,000, according to the IDMC.
KENYA Â? According to the IDMC, Kenya has some 400,000 IDPs. Kenyan IDPs still to return are either living in host communities or in the so called transit camps that the government set up. Click here for a map by the UNHCR displaying the status of IDPs in Kenya.
CAR (Central African Republic) Â? The CAR has some 108,000 IDPs - 2.5% of the countryÂ?s total population. OCHA (the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) estimates that a third of this number was displaced by road bandits, freed from a lack of governmental authority. While it is estimated that 85,000 IDPs returned home in 2008, the IDMC recognises that durable solutions will be unattainable for IDPs until north-western CAR is more secure.
CHAD Â? As of April 2009, some 166,000 people are displaced in eastern Chad. Host communities or sites with international aid supported those who fled cross-border raids in 2006 and 2007. In 2008, some IDPs returned despite lack of access to basic services in their home areas.
ETHIOPIA - Ethiopia is renowned for its recurrent famine and conflict crises. In February 2009 alone, 160,000 people were displaced due to conflict between the Garre of the Somali region and the Boran of the Oromiya region over a contested piece of land. It is difficult to establish the number of IDPs in Ethiopia as neither the government nor any international organisation has undertaken a complete profiling exercise. However, the IDMC estimates a figure between 200,000 and 400,000 IDPs.
SOURCES:
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC)
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)
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