Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Indonesia

Description:
Sida Evaluation 04/27 / From 1998 population displacement increased suddenly in Indonesia, and assistance provided internationally from 2001 to 2004 reached US$81 million (67 million). The number of IDPs peaked in 2002 with a reported 1.4 million persons affected.
Displacement is a reliable indication of specific rights violations and socio-economic needs, to be addressed through humanitarian aid. But there is a need to sharpen the definition of needs. The term Internally Displaced Persons is usually understood as "still away from the area of origin" which ignores many of the vulnerabilities of people who in the past have been displaced. IDPs caught in the "vertical conflicts" are also not well covered, where the authorities are fighting, or where people have fled as a result of lasting political change. The notion of "protection" is too limited, and there is a range of IDP problems which remain unaddressed.