Kenya: New bill set to provide legal protection to thousands of IDPs
On June 13th, the Honorable Ekwe Ethuro, MP, presented the Internally Displaced Persons Bill 2012, to parliament. Once implemented, it will ensure legal protection for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who have been displaced in Kenya due to violence, disaster or development projects.
"In the past, operations to help people who have been displaced have been done without any legal direction," said Ehuro during an interview with IRIN news. "This law will ensure that any person dealing with an internally displaced person must do so within the confines of the law."
The full implementation of the Bill will require the adoption of a national policy on IDPs which has been under consideration by the Kenyan government since 2010. Once these two instruments are in place, Kenya will be in a position to join the Kampala Convention, the first regional legally binding legal instrument on IDP protection.
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See also: IDMC Kenya country page
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Indonesia: Car accident involving child sparks widespread violence and displacement in Papua
On June 6, a soldier was stabbed to death and another injured by villagers in Honai Lama district, in the central highlands, when a child was hit and injured by a military vehicle. Several hundred soldiers and policemen were reported to have violently retaliated by stabbing and beating villagers, while burning motor vehicles, buildings and houses. According to local sources, 72 houses were burned and many of the displaced fled to the forest for safety, or stayed with relatives.
With the government referring to the violence as "small-scale", Amnesty International has urged for a proper investigation and Human Rights Watch is now calling on the government to lift the restrictions on independent reporting.
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200,000 Peruvians displaced in worst flooding for 30 years
Continuous heavy rains during the first half of 2012 have led to widespread flooding in Loreto, Peru, displacing approximately 208,000 people.
An estimated 52,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed and, as of April, 15,000 people were still being sheltered in tents, schools and other public facilities. Nationwide, the floods have affected some 650,000 Peruvians.
As of 6 June, the Peruvian government extended the state of emergency for 60 days. This will allow for resources to be mobilised more quickly while increasing coordination between government agencies.
Local authorities, in coordination with the disaster response system (defensa civil), have made available a large piece of land in the vicinity. It will be used to permanently relocate families that have been displaced by the water, and whose return would put them at risk of future displacement.
See also: IDMC Peru country page
See also: IDMC Natural disasters page
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Côte d’Ivoire: IDPs feel “exhausted and forgotten” by the state
Between the 8th and 13th June, a series of attacks, allegedly perpetrated by Liberian-based armed groups supporting former President Laurent Gbagbo, have displaced some 13,000 around the axis Taï-Grabo in western Côte d’Ivoire.
IDPs, mainly women and children, have found refuge with host families or in camps yet thousands more are thought to remain hiding in forests. Some were reported to have left their homes preventively for fear of new raids. The region has suffered several waves of violence during the past year with many IDPs saying they feel “exhausted and forgotten” by the state.
Access to those displaced remains challenging as the region remains insecure and unstable, with often inaccessible roads. Despite this, emergency relief operations are being conducted and an inter-agency evaluation mission was carried out last week to assess the needs of the displaced.
See also: IDMC Côte d'Ivoire country page