PROTECTION OF INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS IN ETHIOPIA: THE CASE OF MELO KOZA WOREDA

Abstract

Individuals are displaced all around the world because of several factors. Internal displacement is a phenomenon in which individuals are forced to leave their homes but remain within the borders of their own country. The main objective of this paper is to explore the normative and institutional frameworks devised to protect IDPs in Ethiopia and examine how the federal and regional governments respond to the humanitarian needs of IDPs- in Melo Koza Woreda. This study is a qualitative descriptive in its purpose and case study in its methodology. Both primary and secondary sources were employed using the semi- structured interview to collect data from IDPs, officials from the woreda, zonal, regional and federal levels. The study found out that, the phenomenon of IDPs in Ethiopia is increasing from time to time primarily due to conflicts. In contrast, the main issue of protection remains still untouched. Ethiopia lacks a specific normative and institutional framework for the protection of IDPs. IDPs are protected insufficiently by the existing legal frameworks of the nation, i.e. the FDRE Constitution and The FDRE National Policy and Strategy on Disaster Risk Management. Institutionally, the Ministry of Peace, the National Disaster Risk Management Commission (NDRMC), and the Ethiopian Human Rights Institutions (the Institution of the Ombudsman and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission) play a key role in undertaking the issues of IDPs. With regard to the governance of humanitarian assistance to IDPs, currently, the Ethiopian legislation does not establish a separate authorized body with a specific mandate of providing humanitarian assistance only for IDPs. In turn, the NDRMC within the newly established Ministry of Peace is found to be a central executive body with the mandate of making appropriate preparation for natural and manmade disasters that include IDPs. The study also pointed out that the search for durable solutions of IDPs in Melo Koza is not in consistent with the UN Guiding Principles and without the active participation and voluntary interest of the IDPs. Hence, the study recommends the adoption of new law specifically regulating internal displacement, develop a national policy, strategy, and action plan particularly on IDPs that accommodate durable solutions, increase internal capacity for responding humanitarian assistance to IDPs possibly through increasing the capacity of NDRMC.