The world faces more than 60 million people displaced by armed conflict and disasters as of 2022. Climate change is set to trigger large-scale displacement in the future. Internal Displacement and the Law discusses to what extent the present law can contribute to preventing, responding to, and resolving internal displacement and protecting the rights of these internally displaced persons (IDPs). It also identifies its weaknesses and examines ways to improve action. The book's analysis reflects the realities of internal displacement and the challenges faced by displaced individuals and communities, their hosts, governments, and international actors. Assessing the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement and the Kampala Convention on the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa, this enlightening volume investigates the relevance of international human rights and humanitarian law to the problem of displacement with an eye toward durable solutions. In line with its human rights approach, this work promotes a narrative that, based on the concept of sovereignty as responsibility, emphasizes the primary responsibility of states to address the needs of IDPs and views them as citizens with rights and agency rather than as vulnerable beneficiaries of humanitarian action. The author concludes that the body of relevant law amounts to an emerging legal regime on internal displacement whose substantive norms are largely adequate, but which faces specific institutional challenges at domestic and international levels that weaken efforts to address the plight of IDPs.

About the Author
Dr Walter Kalin is Professor Emeritus of Constitutional and International Public Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Bern. The list of his former roles includes being the Representative of the UN Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, a member of the UN Human Rights Committee, a chairperson of the Swiss Association of International Law, and a Rapporteur of the Committee on Refugee Procedures of the International Law Association.


Book Information
ISBN 9780192899316
Author Prof Walter Kalin
Format Hardback
Page Count 384
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 698g
Dimensions(mm) 242mm * 164mm * 28mm