Durable Solutions for IDPs: Normative Anchors in International Human Rights Law

This paper explores the scope, content and nature of the normative basis for IDP solutions in international human rights law.

Published on June 27, 2023

Deborah Casalin | idrp, IDPs, Solutions, Law/Policy

South Sudan. 21 IDPs return to Bentiu hometown. 2020 © UNMISS: Isaac Billy

The traditional durable solutions of return, resettlement or local integration – originating in refugee policy, and more recently transposed to internal displacement situations – have long been viewed as standard reference points for resolving displacement. However, the normative basis for durable solutions for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in international law remains under-examined and unclear in many respects, especially regarding the scope and status of relevant rights and obligations and identification of duty-bearers. This provides a relatively weak footing for the legality/normativity of a human rights-based approach to durable solutions, which has been asserted as offering the fairest and most sustainable results.

International legal norms underlying durable solutions for IDPs has mainly been articulated and developed through soft law and regional treaties. Legal research around these instruments has largely focused on their origins, domestication and implementation, while (sparse) research on the normative underpinnings of durable solutions for IDPs has mostly zoomed in on discrete issues around specific solutions, particularly in conflict situations. While research on durable solutions from the field of international refugee law may offer parallels, differences in underlying state responsibilities may complicate extension of its conclusions by analogy.

This paper therefore aims to explore the scope, content and nature of the normative basis for IDP solutions in the perspective of a human rights-based approach via mapping and analysis of primary and secondary doctrinal sources in international human rights law – also drawing on the author’s research on reparation for displacement, and with an emphasis on the contributions of international and regional (quasi-)judicial human rights mechanisms. This analysis will allow for delineation of a number of future research questions on rights and responsibilities in resolving displacement. It may also contribute to discussions on the need for an IDP treaty (and its scope), as well as the development of a distinct body of IDP law.

KEYWORDS: Internal displacement; IDPs; durable solutions; international law; human rights

Dr Deborah Casalin is Principal Research Fellow at the University of Antwerp Faculty of Law – Law and Development Research Group, where she is examining durable solutions for IDPs from a legal perspective. Her doctoral research, defended in 2022 at the same faculty, explores the role of international (quasi-)judicial human rights bodies in ensuring reparation for arbitrary displacement. She is a research affiliate of the RLI Internal Displacement Research Programme.

Download RID Working Paper No. 37

HOW TO CONTRIBUTE

Researching Internal Displacement publishes engaging and insightful short pieces of writing, artistic and research outputs, policy briefings and think pieces on internal displacement.

We welcome contributions from academics, practitioners, researchers, officials, artists, poets, writers, musicians, dancers, postgraduate students and people affected by internal displacement.

Contact the Editorial Team

How to Contribute

Desplazamiento interno en Ecuador: Soledad en la respuesta institucional

By Gabriela Malo | Jul 22, 2026

En el Ecuador ha aumentado en la década de 2020 la actividad de grupos criminales dedicados al narcotráfico transnacional, minería ilegal y actividades complementarias. Ante la ausencia de respuestas estatales a sus problemas, un número creciente de habitantes opta por escapar. En un contexto del que se tiene escasa información, este trabajo aporta a la comprensión de un fenómeno en el que las familias dependen de su propia iniciativa y capital social para decidir si desplazarse y a dónde ir. Se analizan las responsabilidades del Estado ante el desplazamiento interno, constatando que con pocas excepciones, no existe una respuesta nacional ante este fenómeno. También se describe uno de los pocos casos de desplazamiento masivo que han tenido visibilidad pública: el caso de los indígenas Chachi en la provincia de Esmeraldas. El desplazamiento de los ecuatorianos se produce mayormente dentro del país, aunque un número indeterminado de ecuatorianos cruzan fronteras e incluso solicitan refugio debido a la violencia. También se desplazan, interna o externamente, personas que migraron desde países como Venezuela o Colombia o solicitaron refugio en el Ecuador, y que residían en zonas donde los grupos criminales están activos. La situación de la población desplazada internamente es precaria. No se denuncia la violencia por desconfiar de las instituciones de justicia, y el desplazamiento ocurre en silencio, debido al miedo que producen los grupos criminales. En un contexto del que se tiene escasa información y donde el desplazamiento interno por violencia criminal es poco comprendido por la población y los tomadores de decisiones, este trabajo aporta a la comprensión de un fenómeno en el que las familias dependen de su propia iniciativa y capital social para decidir si desplazarse y a dónde ir. Se analizan las responsabilidades del Estado ante el desplazamiento interno, constatando que con pocas excepciones, no existe una respuesta nacional ante este fenómeno. Como ejemplo de se describe uno de los pocos casos de desplazamiento masivo que han tenido visibilidad pública: el caso de los indígenas Chachi en la provincia de Esmeraldas. El análisis se nutre de descripciones del desplazamiento interno en países de la región, y de información sobre su vivencia en el Ecuador provista por liderazgos comunitarios, gobiernos locales y organizaciones. Enfatiza la necesidad de una respuesta de protección, con políticas públicas adaptadas, rectoría, recursos, registro y coordinación estatal. Como complemento, describe lo deseable de la asistencia local y las dificultades de financiamiento. Al diferirse la respuesta nacional, los riesgos para la población incluyen el agravamiento de su situación vulnerable y de las barreras de acceso a servicios sociales básicos, el deterioro del tejido social y las fracturas causadas por nuevas discriminaciones, y la necesidad de seguir desplazándose.

The Impact of Funding Cuts on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons in Haiti and South Sudan

By Kadidjatou Sawadogo | Jun 30, 2026

The working paper examines the impact of humanitarian funding contractions on the realisation of economic and social rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Haiti and South Sudan. Drawing on a human rights-based framework, documentary analysis, and key informant interviews, it analyses how reductions in humanitarian assistance affected access to adequate food and healthcare in contexts of protracted displacement, institutional fragility, and humanitarian dependence. The findings show that funding cuts reduced food assistance, disrupted health services, suspended mobile clinics, and weakened nutrition coverage for displaced populations. Humanitarian actors adopted hyper-prioritisation approaches that focused on life‑saving interventions but left significant protection and socio‑economic needs unaddressed.

False Narratives and the Reality of History: The Deportation of Soviet Koreans in 1937

By German Kim, Ekaterina Pesegova (transl.) | Jun 4, 2026

This working paper highlights the relatively unknown deportation of Soviet Koreans, the first of several state deportations based on ethnicity carried out by the Soviet Union. The forced displacement, mainly to Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union, was highly classified during Soviet times, leading to misunderstandings and subsequent misrepresentations of the event by Western scholars and the creation of multiple inaccurate narratives, including that of ethnic cleansing. By conducting an interdisciplinary study, the author critically analyses widespread misconceptions about the deportation of the Soviet Koreans and provides objective data on the issue and its long-lasting effects on the Soviet Koreans who survived deportation and their descendants.