IDRP Webinars: ‘Internal displacement, migration and planned relocation in the context of natural hazards’

This IDRP/RLI webinar examines how law and policy shape the response to internal displacement in the context of disasters and climate change
Published on January 13, 2021
IDRP | idrp, IDPs, Internal migration, Disaster, Climate

Environmental processes shape human mobility, including processes of displacement, migration and planned relocation, within countries and even across borders. They can also entrench immobility for specific groups. Natural hazards that shape mobility in such contexts encompass the slow-onset impacts of climate change and environmental degradation, as well as sudden-onset disasters linked to storms, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and even biological hazards like the COVID-19 pandemic.

This webinar series brings together diverse scholarly and practitioner perspectives on how law and policy can respond to this global challenge. Its six topical sessions will be broadcast live in an interactive format via Zoom technology to enhance participation from across the globe.

The series is convened by the Refugee Law Initiative (RLI) and its Internal Displacement Research Programme, in partnership with the Platform on Disaster Displacement (PDD), a state-led initiative working to improve protection for people displaced in the context of disasters and climate change.

By RID | Apr 9, 2026 The displacement of people within their own countries due to crises such as conflicts, disasters, and the effects of climate change is a major contemporary challenge, eliciting global concern about how to protect the displaced. The vast scale of this 'internal displacement' poses far-reaching questions for key debates around humanitarian aid, development, migration, sovereignty, rights, citizenship, identity, and social change. Yet knowledge of the issue is fragmented and highly dispersed across a range of academic and policy domains. This groundbreaking new publication brings together 45 contributions by leading researchers and practitioners, providing an essential point of reference for advancing these debates and raising the profile of internal displacement as a vital concern for research and policy agendas.
By United Nations Human Rights | Jun 27, 2025 A new report by the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, Paula Gaviria Betancur, examines the phenomenon of internal displacement in the context of organised criminal activity. Experts at the Refugee Law Initiative's Internal Displacement Research Programme provided submissions to the report. Their submissions were subsequently published as a collection by Researching Internal Displacement.
By UNHCR | Jun 21, 2025 UNHCR’s Global Report on Law and Policy on Internal Displacement: Implementing National Responsibility 2025 is now available in English, Spanish and French, with the Arabic version available soon. Coordinated, researched and drafted by Martina Caterina (UNHCR, Division of International Protection) and Prof. David Cantor (University of London, Director of the Refugee Law Initiative), the report presents an overview – global and by region - of key legal and policy instruments and developments related to prevention, protection and solutions for IDPs. The report assesses how the response to internal displacement is framed by domestic law and policy on internal displacement and examines the institutional response in selected countries.