Moving towards integration: Overcoming segregated education for IDPs

Internally displaced children have the same right to education as other children; this right cannot be suspended even in emergencies. Yet in reality, many internally displaced children struggle to go to school. Even when they do have access to education, they are often taught apart from local students, for example in separate schools or at different times in the same school. Segregated schooling for internally displaced children may violate their human rights as defined in a number of international norms, especially as the period of displacement grows. This briefing paper addresses the legality and appropriateness of segregated educational systems for internally displaced children, observing that while they may be appropriate in initial phases of displacement, the need to integrate schools becomes more pressing as displacement continues.