OSCE urged to take Action on Europe's 3 Million Internally Displaced Persons by The Norwegian Refugee Council 11:18pm 23rd Oct, 2003   OSLO/GENEVA, 23 October 2003    The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) today called on the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to increase efforts to address the plight of the three million people who have been displaced within their own countries by armed conflict or human rights violations and still wait to be able to return to their homes.    "With its comprehensive approach to security, its broad regional scope and its strong presence on the ground, the OSCE is uniquely placed to address internal displacement in the region", Raymond Johansen, the NRC's Secretary General, wrote in an open letter to the 55 OSCE member states whose representatives will meet in Vienna on Monday to discuss the organisation's response to the problem.    "The NRC calls on the OSCE to make full use of this tremendous potential and tackle the issue of internal displacement in a more systematic and engaged manner. We particularly believe that the OSCE must no longer lag behind in the recognition of the […] widely accepted international normative framework for the protection of internally displaced persons", he added.    Unlike other regional organisations such as the Organisation of American States or the African Union, the OSCE has not yet formally acknowledged the relevant international standards on the protection of internally displaced people, which are spelled out in a UN document known as the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.    As the NRC pointed out in a report published earlier this month, international attention to internal displacement in Europe is continuously decreasing, despite the scope of this major human crisis and its potentially destabilizing effects on the whole region. In 13 OSCE countries – including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, Turkey, the Russian Federation, Azerbaijan and Georgia internally displaced people often live in squalid conditions with little access to food and water and no opportunity to find work.    The NRC called on the OSCE to make internal displacement a priority in its activities and formally acknowledge the UN Guiding Principles at the annual meeting of OSCE foreign ministers to be held in Maastricht on 1-2 December 2003.    The NRC report on internal displacement in Europe is available on the link below.    The Norwegian Refugee Council runs the Geneva based Global IDP Project, the leading international body monitoring internal displacement worldwide. Visit the related web page
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