Internally Displaced Persons – 2013

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Internally Displaced Persons – 2013

2013

Intermediate Implementation Intermediate implementation

With UN support, approximately 8,200 Ivorian refugees voluntarily returned to C™te dÕIvoire from Liberia by June. Some 83,500 Ivorians remain refugees in the subregion, including some 66,400 in Liberia and 8,500 in Ghana. “Cross-border attacks in March resulted in the temporary displacement of up to 8,000 persons, with 500 going to Liberia.” The UN focused its humanitarian response on “assisting returning refugees and internally displaced persons, as well as host families and communities, by providing short-term relief packages and through activities that support rebuilding of livelihoods and strengthening of resilience.” The UN was also providing support to the Government to help provide durable solutions for IDPs, moving from relief to development, while working to build state capacity and coordination with development actors.1

However, persisting conflicts “over land, lack of employment opportunities and lack of access to basic social services and protection often hampered their sustainable reintegration in areas of return, especially in the west of the country.”2 The UN also noted the more general problem of statelessness in West Africa and it saw an “opportunity for hundreds of thousands of persons at risk of statelessness to acquire Ivorian nationality. UNICEF estimates that 2.8 million children remain unregistered and lack the birth certificates they need to have their rights respected.” Meanwhile, instability along the border with Liberia continued to hamper resettlement efforts.3

By December, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration had assisted the voluntary repatriation of more than 16,000 refugees from neighboring countries.4

  1. “Thirty-second progress report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Operation in C™te dÕIvoire,” United Nations Security Council (S/2013/377), June 26, 2013, paragraphs 57-59; “Thirty-third progress report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Operation in C™te dÕIvoire,” United Nations Security Council (S/2013/761), December 24, 2013, paragraph 54.
  2. “Thirty-second progress report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Operation in C™te dÕIvoire,” United Nations Security Council (S/2013/377), June 26, 2013, paragraph 58.
  3. “Thirty-third progress report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Operation in C™te dÕIvoire,” United Nations Security Council (S/2013/761), December 24, 2013, paragraphs 55, 77.
  4. Ibid., paragraph 52.