It is commonly happening that, people are forced to leave their homes, their place of residence even their countries for several reasons. Reasons such as war or armed conflicts within their countries or territories of residence erupted natural crises and diseases outbreak and even moving from one place to another seeking better socioeconomic opportunities. Displacement could happen internally within the borders of the same country, where people move from one community to a new community, and it could happen externally; where populations cross the borders of their countries to another new destination. Forging displacement is one of the most common global challenges facing many of the countries in the world, especially developing countries; in which governing bodies and even its people need to eradicate and mitigate.
‘We are witnessing a changed reality in that forced displacement nowadays is not only vastly more widespread but is simply no longer a short-term and temporary phenomenon.’ Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees. UNHCR reports that at least 100 million people were forcibly displaced in the last decade between 2010 and 2019. However, only a few numbers of these displaced populations found a solution for their problems and causes of displacement, and probably managed to return to their original homes and geographical areas of residence.
Displacement movements lead to consequences affecting both the hosting communities and the displaced populations themselves. Leaving the displaced populations, of women, children, elderly and the sick, during these movements of displacement in danger and vulnerable states, facing risks such as complicated health problems, exploitations, violence, abandonment for some of the family members, and even mortality. Not to neglect to mention the impact on the hosting communities and their members, this would broadly influence both the community members and the new refugees. Resulting in notable changes in the prices that would go rapidly high, employment and unemployment rates and their relation to the rates of wages, and individuals’ wellbeing and state. It is worth mentioning that not all the consequences happening due to the displacement movements are negative; but rather positive on various levels and aspects.
Would it be the case with the movements of migration and internally displaced people! Let’s first distinguish the definition, define the internally displaced people (known as IDPs) according to the United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, are “persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes and who have not crossed an internationally recognized state border.”
“At the end of 2019, the number of people internally displaced by conflict, violence or disasters around the world had reached an all-time high of 50.8 million.” According to the INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT INDEX 2020 REPORT, issued by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre IDMC, published in September 2020. The issues remain standing in face of the hosting communities, where they foster newcomers to their lands and share with them the currently available resources. Not to forget the socioeconomic, political-related effects and precautions of the situation.
It is worth mentioning that to reach the goal of achieving sustainable development, efforts have to be unified. Not only it is the responsibility of governments and civil society organizations, but also, it is the responsibility of individuals.
In light of the global 2030 SDGs agenda declaration and setting it in action, different international agencies concerned with migration and displacement related affairs and issues promise to foster new strategies and integrate interventions in the future; which will advance the implementation of approaches that support refugees and displaced populations in the hosting communities. United Nations Development Programme UNDP is one example of such agencies, they promise to support governments and local partners in the communities in need of developmental interventions.
Approaches of long-term longevity within the developmental framework have the most sustainable effects when addressing the displacement and migration issues. Hence, international agencies and governments are collaboratively working to achieve better conditions for the displaced and host communities. Providing better working opportunities for the displaced persons in their new communities of residence and raising the awareness of the hosting communities that lead to inclusion ad integration of displaced persons with the inhabitants of the hosting communities. Enhancing the developmental efforts on the national and local levels and partnering with the governing bodies; to achieve the sustainability goals and vision. Additionally, civil society organizations concerned with the displacement issues and causes consider vital factors when mitigating the displacement issue, and play a vital role in helping the displaced persons.
Such mitigated approaches create better living conditions for the displaced populations in their new destinations, but, what about solving the main causes of the problem? What about eradicating the roots of displacement from the first place? Governments and several international agencies of concern with the issues of refugees and displaced persons are actively engaged with eliminating such causes.
