The Responsibility to Protect Internally Displaced Persons in Africa

Lwabukuna, Olivia

Abstract

This article explores the responsibility to protect (R2P) as an organizing concept for preventing, addressing and finding durable solutions to internal displacement in Africa. While the most innovative norms for protecting the forcibly displaced have been conceptualized in Africa, they have not durably addressed displacement, due to limitations in implementation. R2P has similarly faced criticisms emanating from a lack of clarity and distrust. Restated norms underlying frameworks for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and R2P complement each other, and can be operationalized simultaneously through a more credible regional approach, to encourage effective protection of IDPs in Africa. The article explores pillar one, pillar two and the non-coercive elements of pillar three of R2P, and its underlying moral principles, using Kenya as a case study of the process of seeking to secure state responsibility for the protection of displaced civilians victimized by mass atrocities.

Citation

Lwabukuna, O. (2021). The Responsibility to Protect Internally Displaced Persons in Africa. Journal of African Law, 65(S1), 73-100. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021855320000340

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 14, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Jan 7, 2021
• Publication Date: May 1, 2021
• Deposit Date: Dec 16, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 16, 2020
• Journal: Journal of African Law
• Print ISSN: 0021-8553
• Electronic ISSN: 1464-3731
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 65
• Issue: S1
• Pages: 73-100
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021855320000340