Who is an internally displaced person (IDP)?
IDPs are described in the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (Introduction) 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.” The involuntary nature of their departure and the fact that they remain in their own country are the two main elements determining who is an internally displaced person.
