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Kampala Convention

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The Kampala Convention (formally, the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa) is a treaty of the African Union that addresses internal displacement caused by armed conflict, natural disasters and large-scale development projects in Africa.

The Convention was adopted in October 2009, following a convening of heads of state and governments in Kampala, Uganda in October of that same year. As of 2016 it has been signed by 40 and ratified by 25 of the 54 member states of the African Union. The Convention entered into force on 6 December 2012, 30 days after its ratification by the 15th state.[1][2]

History

The situation and presence of internally displaced persons is not a recent occurrence in human history, but rather due to societal factors gained a larger audience after the Cold War. [3] The experience and protection of internally displaced persons varies widely from those groups and individuals deemed refugees. In contrast to refugees, IDPs do not receive support from the UNHCR, and there is no comparable agency that accommodates the needs of these individuals. [4]

Many past forced migration organization efforts in Africa and internationally substantially influenced the Kampala Convention— including the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa and the 1998 Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement developed by the United Nations. [5] The Guiding Principles have inspired and guided similarly focused regulations crafted by entities at the regional and national levels worldwide. These remain the major framework for protection of internally displaced persons globally. [3]

In 2011, prior to the signing of this treaty, close to 10 million people were estimated to be internally displaced persons across sub-Saharan Africa. This number represented over half of the population of internally displaced persons in the World with the largest number in 2011 residing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. [6] Several states within the African continent, including Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, and Somalia, are among the five nations with the largest displacement situations globally. [7] Darfur region of Sudan is of special interest in the consideration of the situation of internally displaced persons in that region of Africa. [8]

The primary factor that most of these displacement situations can be attributed to is violence, which can further be related to histories of colonialism, external intervention, and social and physical conflicts within states. [7]

Development is one of the rising factors contributing to internal displacement within the African region— being attributable to more of the situations of internal displacement than war. In 2012, the number of displaced individuals was greater than the refugee global total. [4] Additionally, internally displaced persons are very often subject to increased influence by militia or armed forces groups. [9]

Environmental factors, and their impact on human populations, are particularly pronounced in Africa, although it is has been concluded to be the area of the World with the least contribution to anthropogenic climate change. [10] Additionally, natural disasters displaced further numbers of individuals every year. It was estimated that approximately 1 million individuals were displaced by natural disasters and occurrences in 2009— and close to 2 million were displaced the following year. Drought is of particular concern. In Somalia alone, an estimated one and a half million individuals were displaced from their homes in 2011 due to drought. [7] The plight of individuals displaced by natural disaster is most greatly emphasized in the Horn of Africa. In 2012, it was estimated that over eight million people were newly displaced in Africa due to natural disasters. [8]

Organization

Organizations such as the UNHCR, IOM, ICRC, and the RSG aided the African Union in formulating the early text which constituted the Convention. Further meetings in 2007 and 2008 finalized the official text, and in October 2009, the contents of the treaty were considered and adopted. [11]

List of African Union nations that have ratified the Kampala Convention, as of 29 October 2019[12]:

The list includes 30 of the 55 current members of the African Union. [13]

Treaty contents

The Convention defines displaced persons as “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” [14]

The Convention reinforces in legal sense that the primary duty of lending support and ensuring and providing protection to internally displaced persons is that of the State's. [15] The Convention explicitly links internal displacement specially in the fields of violence, war, human rights violations, and environmental depreciation. [4] Convention heavily emphasizes the right of individuals to not be what the stakeholding parties deemed arbitrarily displaced individuals and groups— following the regular pattern of international law conformation in regards to justification of displacement, but also expanding upon regular rule here to include specific barring of the use of harmful practices and development projects as an explicit cause or justification of displacement. [16]

The document proceeds in the following sequential order— an overview of regulations and protections related to arbitrary displacement, protections given to IDPs throughout the process of displacement, and concludes with a delineation of solutions for the greater situation as a whole. [17]

Key articles

The treaty includes provisions, specifically Article 3, detailing and expanding the rights of internally displaced persons mainly associated with climate change and factors relating to the environment. [11]
Through documents like the Convention, states hope to be able to reduce this by supporting systems, groups, and individuals aimed at advocating and serving the interests of IDPs. Article 7 provides an overview of the non-state actors and their roles in this situation. [9]

Article summaries

Article 1: guiding definition of internally displaced person, other corresponding terms [5]

Article 2: outlines goals of the Convention [5]

Article 3: describes duties, responsibilities of the Convention [5]

Articles 4 and 10: describes strategies for the prevention of displacement within the African continent [5]

Articles 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9: describes facets of support and aid related to displacement [5]

Article 10: discusses displacement related to or stemming from development [5]

Article 11: outlines a resolution for displacement [5]

Article 12: discusses ways to combat the effects of displacement for affected individuals and groups [5]

Article 13: relates documentation facet of issue [5]

Articles 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23: outlines policy mechanisms and operations related internally displaced persons [5]

Impact

After its adoption, it became the first regional treaty on internal displacement of its kind in the World. [6] It has been widely accepted that the Convention's terms, regulations, and definitions have greatly expanded upon formerly utilized and related legal documents and treaties, especially the 1998 Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. [16]

These populations face and continue to face many unique problems related to their status and condition. The mortality rate associated with internally displaced persons in Uganda in 2011 was reported to be almost six times the World average. [6] Although ratification of the Convention has occurred in most African Union states, questions related to the larger and more pivotal enforcement execution processes have been raised— including nations such as Nigeria, in which over one million IDPs reside. [18]

Scholarly studies and articles have concluded that women and children experience unique forms of hardship in the context of regional, national, and supranational conflict. Critics of the Kampala Convention and the African Union's action in this respect have pointed to restrictions and constraints in the field of equal protection under the Convention, especially considering the gendered view of this situation. [9]

References

  1. ^ "ICRC welcomes entry into force of Kampala Convention for displaced persons" (Press release). International Committee of the Red Cross. 2012-12-05. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
  2. ^ "OAU/AU Treaties, Conventions, Protocols & Charters". African Union. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
  3. ^ a b Dieng, A. (2017). Protecting internally displaced persons: The value of the Kampala Convention as a regional example. International Review of the Red Cross, 99(904), 263-282.
  4. ^ a b c Guistiniani, F. Z. (2010). New hopes and challenges for the protection of IDPs in Africa: The Kampala convention for the protection and assistance of internally displaced persons in Africa. Denv. J. Int'l L. & Pol'y, 39, 347.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Asplet, M., & Bradley, M. (2012, December). Strengthened protection for internally displaced persons in Africa: The Kampala Convention comes into force. American Society of International Law.
  6. ^ a b c Maru, M. T. (2011). The Kampala Convention and its Contribution in Filling the Protection Gap in International Law. Journal of Internal Displacement, 1(1), 91-130. Chicago.
  7. ^ a b c Kälin, W., & Schrepfer, N. (2013). Internal displacement and the Kampala Convention: an opportunity for development actors. IDMC.
  8. ^ a b Duchatellier, M., & Phuong, C. (2014). The African contribution to the protection of internally displaced persons: A commentary on the 2009 Kampala Convention. In Research Handbook on International Law and Migration. Edward Elgar Publishing.
  9. ^ a b c Groth, L. (2011). Engendering protection: An analysis of the 2009 Kampala Convention and its provisions for internally displaced women. International Journal of Refugee Law, 23(2), 221-251.
  10. ^ dos Santos Soares, A. (2018). Protecting environmentally displaced persons under the Kampala Convention: a brief assessment. Revista Catalana de Dret Ambiental, 9(1).
  11. ^ a b Abebe, A. M. (2011, March). The Kampala Convention and environmentally induced displacement on Africa. In IOM Intersessional Workshop on Climate Change, Environmental Degradation and Migration (pp. 29-30).
  12. ^ African Union (2019). "List of Countries Which Have Signed, Ratified Accepted to the (Kampala Convention)" (PDF). African Union.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ^ International Committee of the Red Cross (2019, December 2). The Kampala Convention: Ten Recommendations Ten Years On. ICRC. https://shop.icrc.org/the-kampala-convention-key-recommendations-ten-years-on-3188.html?_ga=2.172367275.927513334.1587356895-876322533.1587356895
  14. ^ https://au.int/en/treaties/african-union-convention-protection-and-assistance-internally-displaced-persons-africa
  15. ^ Ojeda, S. (2010). The Kampala convention on internally displaced persons: Some international humanitarian law aspects. Refugee Survey Quarterly, 29(3), 58-66.
  16. ^ a b Adeola, R. (2018). The Kampala Convention and the right not to be arbitrarily displaced. Forced Migration Review, (59), 15-17.
  17. ^ Stavropoulou, M. (2010). The Kampala Convention and protection from arbitrary displacement. Forced Migration Review, (36), 62
  18. ^ Akpoghome, T. U. (2016). Internally Displaced Persons in Nigeria and the Kampala Convention. RiA Recht in Afrika| Law in Africa| Droit en Afrique, 18(1), 58-77.
  1. Text of the Kampala Convention: http://www.au.int/en/treaties/african-union-convention-protection-and-assistance-internally-displaced-persons-africa
  2. Signatures and ratifications: https://web.archive.org/web/20130530221636/http://www.au.int/en/sites/default/files/Convention%20on%20IDPs%20-%20displaced..._0.pdf+Signatures+and+ratifications
  3. Further information from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre: https://web.archive.org/web/20140125144932/http://www.internal-displacement.org/kampala-convention
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