WUNRN
Women, War, Peace and
Displacement
The often cited statistic that as many as 80 per cent of displaced
populations are women and children fails to convey the complete devastation
that displacement visits upon women and communities in general. Leaving homes,
property and community behind, renders women vulnerable to violence, disease
and food scarcity, whether women flee willingly or unwillingly. Internally
displaced women face additional dangers as they are often invisible to the
international community within the borders of countries at war. Camps for
refugees and the internally displaced have been criticized for not addressing
women’s needs and concerns in their design and procedure. Failure to account
for women’s security and health needs can make a camp dangerous and deadly,
when it was intended to provide refuge. Nonetheless, UN, governmental and civil
society organizations that service displaced women have begun rising to the
challenge of including women and gender perspectives at every stage of policy
and implementation.
This
table includes the most recent available figures on IDPs displaced by conflict.
Please note that most of the figures are estimates.
More statistics and analyses of available figures can be found in the Internal
Displacement Profiles in the IDP
database which are linked from the country IDP figures in this table.
For an analysis of current internal displacement trends, see the Global
Overview. (4 Mb)
Countries |
Number of IDPs |
Govt. figures |
UN figures |
Other figures |
Comments |
Afghanistan |
132,246
(UNHCR, September 2006) |
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Algeria |
1,000,000
(EU, 2002) |
No
recent figure available |
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Angola |
61,700
(UNTCU, Dec. 2005) |
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Armenia |
8,400
(NRC, 2005) |
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Azerbaijan |
686,
586 (March 2007) |
578,545
(UNHCR, June 2006) |
These
figures include only those displaced from Nagorno Karabakh and the 7 occupied
territories. They do not include an estimated 30,000 ethnic Armenians
displaced to Nagorno Karabakh. |
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Bangladesh |
500,000
(2000) |
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Bosnia
and Herzegovina |
180,251
(August 2006) |
180,251
(August 2006) |
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Burundi |
100,000
(OCHA, November 2006) |
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Central
African Republic |
212,000
(HCPT, 10 February 2007) |
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Chad |
172,600
(UNHCR, June 2007) |
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Colombia |
1,976,970
(3 February 2007) |
3,940,164
(CODHES, 2007) |
CODHES
figure cumulative since 1985. The government figure is cumulative since 1994
and does not include intra-urban displacement and people displaced by crop
fumigations. IDPs have the right to register one year after their
displacement, which is one reason why government figures only reflect the
official records up to August 2005. |
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Congo |
7,800 |
7,800
(OCHA, Nov. 2004) |
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Côte
d'Ivoire |
709,000
(UNHCR, March 2007) |
UNFPA-funded
study published in March 2006 puts total number of IDPs in five
government-held zones at 709,377. Considering the return of around 300 IDPs,
UNHCR estimates the total number in the five key government-held zones at
709,000 in March 2007. |
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Croatia |
4,200
(August 2006) |
4,200
(UNHCR, August 2006) 7,000 (RSG on Human Rights of IDPs, December 2005) |
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Cyprus |
210,000
(May 2003, UN FICYP) |
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Democratic
Republic of the Congo |
1,007,246
(OCHA April 2007) |
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Eritrea |
8,900
IDP households in Gash Barka and Debub (March 2006) |
40,000
- 45,000 (OCHA, May 2006) |
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Ethiopia |
100,000
- 280,000 (OCHA Ethiopia, April 2006) |
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Georgia |
241,000
(Nov. 2004) |
221,597
(UNHCR, 2006) |
The
221,597 estimate is the result of a verification exercise carried out by the
government and UNHCR, but has not been endorsed by the government. |
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Guatemala |
242,000
(UNFPA, May 1997) |
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Guinea |
19,000
(Dec. 2005) |
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India |
at
least 600,000 (IDMC, May 2006) |
Compiled
from various figures available |
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Indonesia |
150,000-250,000
(IDMC, December 2006) |
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Iraq |
2
million (UNHCR, July 2007) |
The
figure is cumulative and based on a UN Habitat survey published in 2001. Of
this figure, more than 820,000 people were displaced by recent rise in
intercommunal violence, according to the UN and government (as of July 2007) |
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Israel |
150,000
(Cohen, July 2001); 420,000 (BADIL, May 2006) |
The
higher figure includes displaced Bedouin, and was calculated on the basis of
an estimated average annual growth rate of 4.2% in 1950-2001, and 3% for the
later years. |
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Kenya |
431,153
(UNOCHA, May 2006) |
This
figure is derived from a 2002 UN IDP survey which has not been updated.
However, due to a lack of security and protection, it is likely that those
recorded as being displaced in 2002 remain unable or unwilling to return and
thus remain displaced. This figure also takes into account recent
displacement which has taken place throughout Kenya. |
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Lebanon |
25,000
Palestinians newly displaced (May 25, 2007); 200,000 since July 2006; 16,750
prior to July 2006 (as of July 2006) |
200,000
since July 2006 (UNHCR, November 2006) in addition 25,000 newly displaced
Palestinians (May 2007) |
50,000
- 600,000 prior to July 2006 (USCR, 2004; USDOS, 2006) |
In
May 2007, fighting between Lebanese forces and Fatah al Islam caused
displacement of 25,000 Palestinian refugees living in Nahr El Bared camp. As
of November 2006, 200,000 Lebanese were still displaced by the July-August
conflict. Prior to July 2006, it was estimated that some 68,000 to 600,000
Lebanese were displaced as a result of the 1975-1990 civil war and Israeli
invasions. |
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Liberia |
undetermined
(UNHCR, 24 July 2007) |
Approximately
23,000 individuals are believed to remain in former IDP camps. Of these some
16,000 received a return package but either did not use it or went back to
the camps while some 7,000 claim to have been wrongly denied assistance.
Verification exercises are ongoing. |
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Macedonia |
726
(May 2006) |
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Mexico |
10,000
(ICRC, June 2003); 12,000 (Center for Human Rights Fray Bartolomé de la
Casas, June 2003) |
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Myanmar
(Burma) |
500,000
(Thailand Burma Border Consortium, Oct. 2006) |
Estimate
relates to the eastern border areas only and does not include significant
numbers of IDPs in the rest of the country |
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Nepal |
OCHA,
17 July 2007 |
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Nigeria |
No
reliable IDP statistics exist. Govt. sources cite "500,000 to
millions" but not based on any data. Last UN estimate was 200,000 in
Nov. 2004, but also based on guesswork. During periodic outbreaks of violence
most IDPs stay with host families; no camps currently exist. |
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Pakistan |
Conflict-induced
displacement has taken place in Balochistan and Waziristan, but no estimates
are available due to lack of access |
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Palestinian
Territories |
24,547
(OCHA, Oct. 2004) |
57,000
(NGO BADIL, May 2006) |
Lower
estimate only includes IDPs evicted by house demolitions in Gaza between
September 2000 and October 2004; higher figure cumulative since 1967 |
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Peru |
150,000
(Ministry of Women and Social Development, May 2007) |
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Philippines |
120,000
(WFP, March 2006) |
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Russian
Federation |
82,200
(Federal Govt., Feb. 2006) |
158,900
(UNHCR, Dec. 2006) |
20,097
(DRC, 31 July 2007) |
The
government figure includes forced migrants registered in Ingushetia and
Chechnya, whereas the UN figure includes IDPs in Ingushetia, Chechnya and
Dagestan, and other areas, as well as forced migrants from North Ossetia and
other forced migrants living in the Russian Federation. The DRC figure
includes IDPs meeting DRC beneficiary criteria and living in Ingushetia or
Dagestan. |
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Rwanda |
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Senegal |
64,000
(IOM, June 2003) |
New
displacements have taken place, but no recent estimate is available. |
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Serbia |
227,504
(UNHCR, July 2007) |
Estimate
does not include an unknown number of Roma not registered as IDPs |
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Somalia |
- |
400,000
(OCHA, Sep. 2006) |
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Sri
Lanka |
Three
figures are available, the overlap between the three groups of IDPs is
unclear. 312,700 IDPs from pre-2002 conflict (UNHCR/MNBD, May 2006) plus
301,879 newly displaced between 7 April 2006 and 16 April 2007 (UNHCR/MNBD,
16 April 2007), plus 450,000 tsunami IDPs (UNHCR/MNBD, December 2005). |
Three
figures are available, the overlap between the three groups of IDPs is
unclear. 312,700 IDPs from pre-2002 conflict (UNHCR/MNBD, May 2006) plus
301,879 newly displaced between 7 April 2006 and 16 April 2007 (UNHCR/MNBD,
16 April 2007), plus 450,000 tsunami IDPs (UNHCR/MNBD, December 2005). |
The
number of conflict-IDPs is a combination of long-term displaced (May 2006
figure) and newly displaced (March 2007 figure). The figure of 600,000 is a
rough estimate: unregistered IDPs living in host communities may increase the
figure, while an unknown overlap between the two groups of displaced may
reduce it. |
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Sudan |
5,355,000
(IDMC, April 2006) |
Compiled
from various figures |
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Syria |
305,000
(Aug. 2005) |
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Timor-Leste |
100,000
(OCHA, January 2007) |
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Togo |
1,500
(OCHA, Nov. 2006) |
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Turkey |
953,680
- 1,201,200 (Hacettepe University, December 2006) |
over
1 million (NGOs, Aug. 2005) |
Hacettepe
University survey commissioned by the government |
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Turkmenistan |
No
estimates available |
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Uganda |
1,297,000
(UN, June 2007) |
The
UN figure includes IDPs in new displacement sites, but excludes certain IDP
groups, such as IDPs in urban areas. In addition, and as acknowledged
by the UN, data received from the Teso sub-region does not cover all
districts. Some 539,550 IDPs have also returned to their villages of
origin (UN, May 2007), but they still require protection and assistance as
their return is not yet sustainable due to the conditions. |
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Uzbekistan |
3,400
(IOM, May 2005) |
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Yemen |
30,000-35,000
(ICRC, May 2007) |
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Zimbabwe |
569,685
(UN, July 2005) |
Not
including people previously displaced by land acquistions or political violence. Also
not including people recently displaced due to losing their businesses or
other forms livelihood. |
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Global
Total |
24,500,000
|
IDMC,
Dec. 2006 |
Estimate
based on the analysis of available country figures and additional information
on displacement and return trends. |
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