While hundreds of thousands of displaced persons from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas continue to face agonising situation the seriousness of the policy makers is evident from their entanglement in the debate over whether to call them internally displaced persons (IDPs) or temporarily dislocated persons (TDPs).

Displacement has been a recurring phenomenon in Pakistan for the last many years and in past the term IDP was used for those leaving their homes due to military operation, but recently all of a sudden the federal government issued directives to the relevant departments to use the term TDP for the tribal population displaced from North Waziristan.

Know more: Call IDPs temporarily dislocated persons, govt agencies told

The coining of this new term by the Pakistan’s Foreign Office, that too after the country facing internal armed conflict in different regions for around a decade, shows that the government is not yet clear about its policy regarding displacement and it has been dealing with the issue as a stopgap arrangement. While there is no definition of TDP available in any law in Pakistan the same is the situation on international level as no such term is mentioned in the international guiding principles on displacement.

Foreign Office spokesperson Ms Tasnim Aslam has reportedly stated that the IDP was a legal term, used for the people displaced due to conflict. She had stated that these people had not been displaced as a result of war or occupation of their area. She stated that the law enforcement agencies had started action in tribal areas to re-establish writ of the government that was why the affected population of Fata should be called TDPs and not IDPs.

In Pakistan, the law dealing with both natural and manmade disasters is the National Disaster Management Act (NDMA), 2010, which was enacted in Dec 2010. Prior to its enactment the then government had promulgated the National Disaster Management Ordinance in 2006 after the devastating earthquake of 2005. That ordinance was re-promulgated several times as the constitutional life of the ordinance at that time was four months. It was finally tabled before the parliament and the NDMA was enacted.

That law defines a disaster as “a catastrophe, or a calamity in an affected area, arising from natural or man-made causes, or by accident which results in a substantial loss of life or human suffering or damage to, and destruction of, property.” Under the law an “affected area” means an area or part of the country affected by a disaster. The law clearly spells out “disaster management” as “managing the complete disaster spectrum including: preparedness; response; recovery and rehabilitation; and, reconstruction.”

This law does not define “displacement” or “displaced persons”. Section 11 of the Act makes it binding on the National Disaster Management Authority to make guidelines for the provision of relief to the affected persons. It states: “Subject to directions of the National Commission, the National Authority shall lay down guidelines for the minimum standards of relief to be provided to persons affected by disaster which shall include: the minimum requirements to be provided in the relief camps in relation to shelter, food, drinking water, medical cover and sanitation; the special provisions to be made for vulnerable groups; ex gratia assistance on account of loss of life as also assistance on account of damage to houses and for restoration of means of livelihood; and, such other relief as may be necessary.”

On the international level there is no binding legal instrument specifically dealing with the issue of IDPs. In 1998 the UN drafted the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement which is a non-binding set of guidelines, including 30 principles addressing issues and stages of displacement.

The introductory section to the Guiding Principles define internally displaced persons as “persons or groups of persons who have been forced to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalised violence, and who have not crossed an internationally recognised State border.” These guidelines cover all three phases of displacement – protection against displacement; protection during displacement; and, post-displacement phase.

Legal experts believe that disturbance in different regions during last couple of years are of the nature of armed conflict as the security forces have been using all sorts of weaponry, including air power, to check activities of the militants who had challenged writ of the state and were calling shots in different areas.

They believe that by replacing the term IDP with TDP the government is apparently trying to portray as if the disturbance was not of the nature of armed conflict as in that case the security forces had to follow the International Humanitarian Law especially the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II), of 1977.

As IDPs are in principle civilians, they are protected before, during and after their displacement by all the rules that protect civilians in a situation of armed conflict. In case of non-international armed conflict or in situation of internal strife, Article 3 common to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Additional protocol II of 1977 are applicable.

The civilians flee combat zones on account of indiscriminate attacks by the warring groups; or, subjected to harassment and caught in the firing line between the warring groups. Thus they attempt to escape the abuses of power of which they are the victims. Article 17 of the Additional Protocol II prohibits forced movement of civilians. Keeping in view the entire confusion regarding the status of the displaced persons it would now be appropriate for the government to amend the law and provide a clear definition of displaced or dislocated persons. Similarly, their rights under the law should be clearly spelled out.

Published in Dawn, September 22nd , 2014