Internal Displacement: a reality in today’s Pacific

Internal Displacement: a reality in today’s Pacific

MEDIA RELEASE

2 May 2011

The challenges of ensuring protection for internally displaced persons in the Pacific will be discussed on 3 May at a conference held in Suva, Fiji, at the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat (PIFS). The conference will focus on displacement within Pacific Island countries due to sudden-onset natural disasters and climate change.

The regional conference is organized by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in partnership with the Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement. The conference is followed by a workshop on internal displacement from 4 to 6 May.

Matilda Bogner, Regional Representative OHCHR said: “The rate and force of natural disasters in the Pacific is increasing. This means that the number of Pacific people forced to move from their houses or land is also increasing.

Governments and their partners in the Pacific need to think about the protection of internally displaced persons and see how to ensure that they are not left in a vulnerable position without access to basic services or at risk of threats to their security.

Internationally, a wide range of experience has led to the development of guidelines and standards to protect the human rights of internally displaced persons. It is important for Pacific governments to know about these standards and to apply them.”

OHCHR will launch a Discussion Paper on Protecting the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons in Natural Disasters during the conference. The Discussion Paper outlines three case studies in which thousands of people have been forced from their homes by volcanic eruptions and tsunamis in Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Solomon Islands in recent years.

Peter Muller, Regional Disaster Response Adviser for the Pacific at OCHA said: “Natural disasters in the Pacific have led to long term displacement of people and many related problems that governments, humanitarian and development partners struggle to solve over months and years. So it is important to discuss these issues and develop appropriate responses that help to protect Pacific communities.”

There will be two panels during the conference, one on Internal Displacement and Natural Disasters in the Pacific, and one on Climate Change related Internal Migration. Heads of Regional Organizations, UN Agencies, Ambassadors, Heads of NGO’s and representatives from academia are in the list of invitees.

ENDS

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