Forced displacement
We refer to forced displacement when the movement from a person’s region or country is involuntary or coerced, due to persecution, conflict, generalised violence, human rights violations or the adverse effects of climate change, environmental degradation, or disasters.
A forcibly displaced person may have crossed a border in seek of refugee, but only persons recognised by their hosting country and/or international organisations are granted international protection as refugees. Some stateless people are also refugees. A person displaced within his/her home country, becomes an "internally displaced person" (IDP). In 2023, according to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, the number of forcibly displaced people around the world has reached over 110 million, an unprecedented number. Very few people forced to leave their countries of origin can return in a safe and dignified manner.
At global level, the 2030 Agenda call to ‘leave no-one behind’ and to better manage migration, including forced displacement, was followed by the 2016 New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants adopted by the UN General Assembly. This Declaration aimed at defining an international response to large movements of refugees and migrants. Following this Declaration, the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2018, and it reflects longstanding EU priorities on development-focused responses to forced displacement. The Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) annexed to the Declaration adopts an approach that parallels that of the EU Communication ‘Lives in Dignity: from Aid-dependence to Self-reliance’, and allows for synergies and linked programming. It seeks to improve international cooperation, share responsibilities equitably, and support refugees and host communities. The objective is to alleviate pressures on host countries, promote refugee self-reliance, provide access to third-country solutions, and support safe and dignified returns to countries of origin.
In order to support and follow-up the practical implementation of the GCR objectives, the Global Refugee Forum (GRF) was created as a platform for dialogue and collaboration among stakeholders.
With regards to IDPs, the work of the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement led to the adoption of the UN’s Action Agenda on Internal Displacement, which focuses on enhancing the protection, humanitarian assistance, and development support for IPDs. This policy framework also emphasizes cooperation with governments, the humanitarian-development-peace nexus, and climate action as priorities to achieve durable solutions.
Our Approach:
The EU helps partner countries to better deal with forced displacement, by fostering their resilience, stability, and security; helping them create socioeconomic and job opportunities, especially for young people; protecting persons displaced or trapped; support to disaster preparedness and anticipatory action; building their legislative, institutional, and operational capacities to improve their overall governance.
The EU works and develops partnerships on the prevention of forced displacement by addressing the root causes of violence, poverty, conflict, environmental degradation, and climate change. We contribute to the identification of durable solutions for forcibly displaced people with key implementing partners such as UNHCR, IOM, INGOs and other stakeholders. The EU works towards better addressing statelessness in its programming.
Refugees, asylum seekers and stateless people
Over the span of 2 years, the number of refugees worldwide increased from 20.7 in 2020 to 36.4 million at mid-2023, more than triple the 10.5 million a decade ago. Meanwhile, the number of asylum-seekers worldwide reached 6.1 million by mid-2023. As of June 2023, 52% of all refugees worldwide came from three countries: Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine.
As new refugee situations emerge and intensify, and as existing ones reignite or remain unresolved, there is an acute need for durable solutions at increasing scale.
The legal definition of a stateless person has been established in the 1954 UN Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and defines a stateless person as someone “who is not considered as a national by any state under the operations of its law”. Although it is hard to get the exact number of stateless persons around the world, UNHCR reports about 4.4 million stateless people residing in 97 countries at mid-2023.
Two of the main global policy initiatives on statelessness are the 1954 UN Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. While the first policy ensures that stateless persons enjoy a minimum set of human rights, the second one aims of preventing and reducing statelessness over time. In 2014, UNHCR launched the #IBelong campaign viewing the end of statelessness by 2024.
Our approach
The 2016 Communication ‘Lives in Dignity: from Aid-dependence to Self-reliance’ aims at setting out a new development-oriented approach to support refugees, IDPs, voluntary returnees and host populations in partner countries.
More recently, a comprehensive approach integrating humanitarian aid, development cooperation and political engagement was adopted. Through the humanitarian-development-peace nexus, the EU deploys all the instruments needed not only to address short-term needs but also to provide long-term solutions and, in conflicts, contribute to building lasting peace.
The EU believes that an inclusive approach offering access for asylum seekers and refugees to social and economic opportunities on equal foot as their host communities remains one of the most effective protection tools. Consequently, the EU strongly engages to support the forcibly displaced and their hosts in the world.
Forced displacement features in many Multiannual Indicative Programmes in EU partner countries, and it is first and foremost tackled under the Regional Multiannual Indicative Programmes. The EU also undertakes considerable efforts to include forcibly displaced in a wide range of programs through a mainstreaming approach, particularly on education, health, and job creation.
At the end of 2019, the EU reaffirmed its commitment at the first Global Refugee Forum, highlighting efforts to assist refugees and their host communities in developing countries. At the second edition of the Global Refugee Forum in 2023, the EU reiterated its policy and financial commitments towards refugees and their hosts.
Internally Displaced People
Unlike refugees, internally displaced people do not have a special status in international law with rights specific to their situation. However, they enjoy the same rights as other civilians and should be given assistance by their authorities.
According to the International Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), there were 71.1 million IDPs in 2022 (from 41.5 million in 2018). Only in 2021, Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for more than 80% of all internal displacements triggered by conflict and violence worldwide (11.6 million people displaced due to conflict and violence and 2.6 million people due to disasters).
Our approach
The EU supports a development-oriented approach to IDPs and their hosts with a focus on their specific vulnerabilities and capacities. Just as for refugees, the Commission mainstreams or explicitly targets IDP issues in Annual Action Programmes or Special Measures as well as in Regional Programmes.
The EU is a strong supporter of the objectives of the United Nations Secretary General’s Action Agenda on Internal Displacement, and has politically and financially engaged since the early start of this process. DG INTPA supports the work of IDP Solution Advisors who are deployed in the offices of Resident Coordinators in Nigeria and Colombia.
Climate-induced displacement
Millions of people around the world are forced to leave their homes because of earthquakes, cyclones, floods, desertification, prolonged droughts, rising temperatures or coastal erosion. There is growing evidence that disasters, climate change and environmental degradation have a vast and increasing effect on human mobility trends worldwide, and more specifically on internal displacement and internal migration. However, it is extremely complex to have reliable data on climate-induced movements. According to the Global Report on Internal Displacement, yearly issued by IDMC, disasters trigger the most internal displacements globally, with 32.6 million recorded in 2022. Weather-related hazards accounted for 98% of the total. In many countries, conflict and disasters overlapped and mutually reinforced each other, combined with the global crisis leading to increasing food insecurity and vulnerability for millions of people. In 2021, the World Bank projected that 216 million people worldwide could be forced to move within their countries by 2050.
Our approach
The EU carries out humanitarian and development actions in countries affected by disasters and climate change, but is also active on data, research, and knowledge production. EU policy framework attaches importance to jointly addressing climate and environmental issues and underlines the importance of mainstreaming climate and displacement across all policy areas.
The EU has recently stepped up its efforts to address this issue through the publication of a new policy document. The Commission Staff Working Document, issued to coincide with the start of the EU Presidency of the Platform on Disaster Displacement (PDD – see hereunder), was jointly prepared by DG ECHO and DG INTPA with the aim to strengthen timely and adequate assistance to those at risk of being or already displaced and promote resilient communities in an effective and sustainable manner.
Lastly, the EU is engaged in a strong partnership with the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC) and jointly works on data, analysis, and research to reduce the risk and impacts of disaster and climate-related displacement in pilot countries and regions through developmental actions.
The Platform for Disaster Displacement (PDD)
The PDD is a State-led initiative working towards better protection for people displaced across borders in the context of disasters and climate change. The EU has taken the Chair of PDD as from 31 July 2022 until December 2023. The PDD has the following priorities in its current strategy:
- Support integrated implementation of global policy frameworks on human mobility, climate change action and disaster risk reduction that are relevant for disaster displaced persons.
- Promote policy and normative development to address gaps in the protection of persons at risk of displacement or displaced across borders.
- Facilitate exchange of knowledge and strengthen capacity at the national and regional levels to implement effective practices and instruments that can prevent, reduce, and address disaster displacement.