ABSTRACT
The study examined the critical analysis of the role and impacts of UNHCH and the United States on the plights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Nigeria.
The secondary data was used to reflect the purpose of the study, content analysis was used to elicit data from texts, journals, magazines, past project relating to this study, archives, publications of research work and internets.
The study also revealed that; reality that Nigerian IDPs especially Lagos are not a homogenous group and that some IDPs are better off than some other vulnerable groups, including those who did not leave their homes in the face of insecurity and threats to their protection. Internally displaced persons in Nigeria have suddenly become a socio-economic problem which has thrown a lot of humanitarian challenge for our collective humanity. The Donors, UN agencies, NGOs and national authorities have ensured that comprehensive, inter-agency, needs assessment processes are undertaken in all operations and on a regular basis.
The study concluded that donor organizations are not doing nearly enough to support coordination mechanisms whether for overall humanitarian efforts or those specifically relating to IDPs. The study further recommended that; Donor organizations should recognize that they have a critical role to play in making the Collaborative Approach work; At the country level regular meetings should be held between representatives of the principal donors and the Humanitarian Coordinator at which a review of the operation of the Collaborative Approach is a fixed item on the agenda; At the sector level the review of the Collaborative Approach should be a fixed item on the agenda in regular meetings between the Emergency Relief Coordinator and the principal humanitarian donors.
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction
1.1 Background to the Study
Migration may begin internally but eventually cross international boundaries just as international migration may one day cycle back home1. According to the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) 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. Voluntary movement may contain elements of coercion just as involuntary movement is not without rational decision-making or strategic choice. The archetypical example of forced migration is that of the refugee, who, according to the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees must be outside his or her country of nationality and unable or unwilling to return due to a well-founded fear of persecution for any one of five reasons: race, religion 2, nationality, membership of a social group, or political opinion. It is this definition that has been endorsed by 135 UN member states and that guides the work of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) 1.
The internal displacement of people has become a significant concern in Nigeria. Internal displacement already occurred in Nigeria 30 years ago, when during the Biafran war (1967-1970) some two million people died and ten million people became internally displaced. More than two million people have fled their homes because of terrorism in the northeast. Millions more have been displaced by other causes, including natural disasters and development projects. The rise in the problem of human displacement and emergence of natural disasters has led to calls for concrete rights-based solutions to protect and assist internally displaced persons. This is why the absence of a national legal framework for dealing with the crisis is receiving increased attention33. The problem of internal displacement is serious enough to require amendments to Nigeria’s constitution. The rising wave of displacements in the north has far-reaching implications for national political stability. For instance, Borno State has becoming desolate due to the incessant infiltration of the deadly Boko Haram, thus affecting the economic output of the state. Given that the constitution obliges the government to safeguard the welfare of all Nigerians, it becomes imperative that there be constitutional protection for displaced people.
Approximately 500,000 people were forced to flee their homes after ethnic violence (Jos riot) rocked Nigeria in October 2001, the majority of whom returned to their homes by mid-200222. Available figures suggested that towards July 2002, a total of at least 30,000 people remained internally displaced in Nigeria. This figure is mainly composed of a remnant of the June/July 2001 clashes involving Tivs in Nasarawa and Taraba states, as well as people still displaced after the October 2001 violence in Benue state involving Tivs and the Jukun/military. The exact extent of displacement is difficult to estimate. Since 2001, a lot of internally displaced personsseek shelter within social networks and relocate to other towns and communities to join other family and clan member.
In 1969, the Organization of African Unity (OAU) formally recognized the need for an expanded definition of refugee within the African context. The OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, which had 42 signatories as of 1993, repeats the UN definition but adds that:
The term ‘refugee’ shall also apply to every person who, owing to external aggression, occupation, foreign domination or events seriously disturbing public order in either part or the whole of his country of origin or nationality, is compelled to leave his place of habitual residence in order to seek refuge in another place outside his country of origin or nationality1.
There were 59.5 million forcibly displaced people worldwide at the end of 2014, the highest level since World War II: 19.5 million were refugees, 1.8 million asylum seekers and 38.2 million internally displaced persons, according to UNHCR (2015). Internal displacement in Nigeria is a recurring and large-scale phenomenon and has affected most of the country’s 36 states. Africa’s largest populated country has seen many waves of displacement, both small and large scale, caused essentially by conflict, generalized violence, natural disasters and human rights violations (Nigerian, 2015). It is against this background that this study seeks to review existing empirical research on the issues raised by the presence of internally displaced people (IDPs) in Nigeria. The lessons drawn will help in overcoming the challenges of displacement in Nigeria. 1
Consequently, the United Nations and the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) intervened constantly into the welfarism of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Nigeria. Against the background above, this study intends to attempt a critical analysis of the role and impacts of UNHCH and the United States on the plights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Nigeria (1999-2004).
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The number of existing literatures on IDPs in Nigeria has shown that Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have been a recurrent issue in the Nigerian history due to the constant experience of war and terrorists across the nation.
IDP camps have existed in numerous numbers throughout the country due to the number of displacements resulting from one conflict or the other. The roots of conflict and displacement have existed since long in Nigeria, but military regimes, and especially the authoritarian regime of General Sani Abacha from 1993 to 1998, kept the underlying tensions in check. With the coming into power of Olusegun Obasanjo as president in May 1999 and the introduction of democracy, the Nigerian people were given an opportunity to express their anger and frustration. It is therefore not surprising to see a rise in inter-ethnic and inter-communal conflicts. These can be summarized into five broad categories: ethnic rivalry, religious violence, land-conflicts, conflicts related to the demarcation of administrative boundaries, and conflicts linked to oil-production. First of all, ethnic rivalries are closely interwoven with the four other categories of causes. Nigeria is host to 250 ethnic groups and an important factor fueling communal violence was the emergence during the 1990s of militant groups affiliated to specific ethnic groups. In April 2002, President Obasanjo drew up ‘The Prohibition of Certain Associations Act 2002’, in an effort to curb ethnic violence. The Act seeks to ban any "association of individuals or quasi-military groups" formed "for the purpose of furthering the political, religious, ethnic, tribal, cultural or social interests of a group. While these exist, the United States and the UNCHR have always been on the verge of giving assistance to Nigeria to solicit funds for those that are internally displaced. It is against this backdrop that this study intends to attempt a critical analysis of the role and impacts of UNHCH and the United States on the plights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Nigeria (1999-2004).
1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study
The overall aim of this study is to attempt a critical analysis of the role and impacts of UNHCH and the United States on the plights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Nigeria (1999-2004). The specific objectives are:
- identify the major incidences and causes of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Lagos;
- Examine the major responses or intervention of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Lagos;
- the roles of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees on the plights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Lagos (1999-2004);
- identify the impacts of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on the plights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Lagos (1999-2004);
1.5 Scope of the Study
The scope of this study is limited to the historical concept of the Internally Displaced Persons’ in Nigeria It will be limiting its scope to IDPs in Lagos state. It also seeks to concentrate on the intervention of UNHCR and the United States’ plights on the IDPs’ in Nigeria within the space of 1999 and 2004. This study will be carried out within the space of three months.
1.6 Significance of the Study
The study is meant to assess the significant roles and impacts of the United States and the UNHCR’s plights on the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Nigeria within the space of 1999 and 2004. Therefore, it is hoped that the outcomes of this study will be a useful guide to the students of history in higher institutions of learning. It is believed that, the findings from this study will help the government in formulating policies that affect the IDPs in the country. More so, it is expected that, the study will address what measures were adopted by the United States and the UNHCR to intervene into the cases of the IDPs in Nigeria within the space of 1999 and 2004.
Furthermore, the findings of this study will be beneficial to the government, as it will help motivate government and policy makers to revisit the objectives of foreign interventions. It will also help in the implementation of committee set up to ensure effective utilization of aid resources for the Internally Displaced Persons. It will as well motivate government to critically analyze costs and benefits of any aid package to ensure that donor’s motives do not paralyze the expected motives for receiving interventions from the United States and the UNHCR. Students and other researcher who come across this study will find it very beneficial as it will add to existing literature on the roles and impacts of UNCHR and the United States on IDPs in Nigeria.
1.7 Research Methodology
The study will adopt the qualitative and historical research methodology, primary sources which include first-hand information. The secondary sources shall be through journals, reports, articles, newspapers, treaties, textbooks and other scholarly publications and tertiary sources like government reports, and other relevant information which will aid this study, will be accessed. The secondary sources shall be through journals, reports, articles, newspapers, treaties, textbooks and various statutes which would be obtained.
