ABSTRACT
The recent challenge the international community is attempting to manage is the masses in flight, those who have been uprooted from their homes and are seeking asylum in host countries. The roots of this political problem can be traced back to the internal crisis created within the soft states that are unable to combat conflicts and civil wars within their own borders. This political trajectory in turn creates the category of internally displaced persons (IDPs), who today have surpassed the number of refugees and continue to seek protection from the very same states that have made them homeless. This chapter attempts to explore the politics surrounding this category of ‘forced migration’ identified by the United Nations as internally displaced persons. Millions of people across the globe are displaced as a result of conflict; they are the most vulnerable, yet await recognition among the Member States. Living in permanent ‘relief camps’, the IDPs struggle to gain their rights as citizens in their own homelands. The states oscillating between the notions of sovereignty and responsibility relegate this category of IDPs to political incognito. Displaced as a result of conflict and abandoned by the state, the IDPs continue to combat the dilemmas in their homelands, awaiting recognition and rehabilitation.
