"UN: Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, 1998" [2005] ELECD 245; in Tully, Stephen (ed), "International Documents on Corporate Responsibility" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2005)

Book Title: International Documents on Corporate Responsibility

Editor(s): Tully, Stephen

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781843768197

Section: Chapter 22

Section Title: UN: Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, 1998

Number of pages: 3

Extract:

22. UN: Guiding Principles on Internal
Displacement, 1998

Commentary: Formulated by the UN Human Rights Commission, the Principles
(UN Doc E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2, Annex) define a normative framework for internally
displaced persons (IDPs). The Introductory Note states that the Principles `restate exist-
ing norms and seek to clarify grey areas and fill in the gaps' within international humani-
tarian law, human rights law and refugee law: see further, `Compilation and Analysis of
Legal Norms', UN Doc E/CN.4/1996/52/Add.2. The foreword observes that these
Principles `provide valuable practical guidance to Governments, other competent author-
ities, intergovernmental organizations and NGOs'. Commercial interests are engaged
with respect to large-scale development projects (Principles 5 & 6), employment (22),
offering humanitarian assistance (25) and property (21 & 29). Natural resource extrac-
tion can exacerbate local armed conflict and contribute to human rights violations:
Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (2000), Human Security
in Sudan: The Report of a Canadian Assessment Mission, Ottawa. See further, World Bank,
Operational Directive 4.30 (1990) on Involuntary Resettlement, Washington, DC.



Introduction: Scope and Purpose
2. For the purposes of these Principles, internally displaced persons are persons or groups of
persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habit-
ual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict,
situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made
disasters, ...