Great Lakes Pact Enters Into Force

Refugee Rights News
Volume 4, Issue 3
May 2008

The Pact on Security, Stability and Development in the Great Lakes Region, which was signed in December 2006 at the close of a two year long process conducted under the auspices of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), is now entering into force.

Under the terms of the Pact itself, it will enter into force 30 days after the ratification of the Pact by the eighth regional state. The International Conference on the Great Lakes Secretariat has informed IRRI that the necessary ratifications are now in place (of the 11 states in the ICGLR only Sudan and Angola have now not ratified) allowing the Pact to enter swiftly into force.

From the perspective of advocates for refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) around the region, this is welcome news, as the Pact contains some powerful new mechanisms for the protection of the displaced. The Pact brings together ten protocols laying out new legal standards on relevant issues, 33 priority projects, and a set of implement mechanisms and institutions. These institutions include a secretariat based in Bujumbura, a regional centre for democracy and good governance, and a Special Fund for Reconstruction and Development to be hosted by the African Development Bank.

Within this new framework, there are two new protocols which deal specifically with the experience of displacement in the region – the Protocol on the Protection and Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons (IDP Protocol) and the Protocol on the Property Rights of Returning Populations (Property Protocol).

The Protocol on the Protection and Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons

The IDP Protocol will soon become the first legally binding international instrument providing protections specifically for the displaced. The IDP Protocol focuses primarily on ensuring that existing legal standards are adhered to—requiring states to respect the United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement as well as integrate them into national law.

In addition, the IDP Protocol is unique in that it recognizes explicitly those displaced by large scale development projects as IDPs in need of protection—and indeed it devotes an entire article to their situation. States are required to consult with the populations affected and explore alternatives to displacement as well as provide compensation in cases where displacement is justified.

The IDP Protocol also requires states to identify a framework of government response to situations of displacement—which often requires coordination by a range of government ministries and officials at the national, regional and local level. It is also interesting to note that the IDP Protocol uniquely reflects the experience of the region in defining policies on the internally displaced. This recognition has made clear the importance of—and made room for—wide consultation with civil society and the displaced themselves. The IDP Protocol also deals with a number of critical challenges for IDPs including security, issuance of documentation, and the provision of humanitarian assistance.

Protocol on the Property Rights of Returning Populations

The Property Protocol is focused on a particular aspect of the experience of displacement—the difficulty often experienced by the displaced in recovering or finding compensation for property lost when they fled. The Property Protocol was adopted in recognition of the fact that property—and particularly land—is often at the core of conflict and displacement in the region. Indeed, in some situations, such as the current war in Darfur, populations are purposely displaced so that their land can be acquired. In other situations, reacquisition of land is a major barrier to sustainable return, as it is in Burundi. Burundi is one of the most densely populated countries in the world and is primarily agricultural, meaning that there is intense pressure on land resources. For many refugees the ability to reclaim land abandoned during flight is a core concern in deciding to return as well as critical to their ability to reintegrate and support themselves at home. At the same time, efforts to return to their land often bring them into conflict with others who may have occupied it during their long exile.

The Property Protocol attempts to create a framework in which to address such concerns. The Property Protocol requires states to create procedures under which both local traditional authorities and judicial bodies can assist in the recovery of property and resolve disputes. The Protocol also calls on states to put in place systems of recognizing both customary and statutory tenure. The recognition of customary tenure is particularly important in the region because a large percentage of land is administered under customary tenure and is often managed by communities rather than through individual ownership. The Protocol also provides a series of principles for addressing the property rights of particularly vulnerable groups such as women, children, and communities with special ties to the land.

Although the Property Protocol lays out a progressive legal framework, addressing complex property claims at the national and local level will require creation of more specific legal guidance on issues such as how to deal with “secondary occupants,” those who might have lived on abandoned land for decades prior to the return of the displaced, and how the interaction between customary and statutory systems can be managed. It will also require mechanisms that are workable in practice—and creating those will require additional commentary and monitoring.

In addition, a number of other elements of the Pact are relevant more broadly to the situation of the displaced. These elements include those aimed at addressing the human rights violations which cause flight and to which the displaced may be at increased risk. One such example is the protocol devoted to combating sexual violence, which is a problem frequently faced by displaced persons.

IRRI and the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) are currently working on a guide for NGOs in the region which more fully explains the potential of the Pact for advocates of refugees and internally displaced persons in the region. It is expected to be launched in July 2008.

For more information, please see:

• the website of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region;
• the International Humanitarian Law Project, which has made all of the Pact’s Protocols and Projects available in an easy to read format; and
• the website of “Enhancing Protection of Displaced Populations: Translating the Great Lakes Peace Pact into Action” a conference convened by IRRI and the IDMC to discuss NGO strategies for using the ICGLR in April 2007.