Who shall save us? International law and the quest for a framework for protecting the internally displaced persons in Kenya

Abstract

Internally displaced persons herein after referred to as (IDPs) have been defined as; "Persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged 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 generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human- made disasters, and who have not crossed any internationally recognized State border." 1 An estimated 25 million people today live in situations of internally displacement as a result of conflicts and human rights violations.? They are forced to flee their homes because their lives are in danger but unlike refugees they do not cross international borders though exposed to violence and other human rights violations they have no or have only limited access to food, employment, education and health care. Large numbers of IDPs are caught in desperate situations amidst fighting or in remote or inaccessible areas cut off from international assistance. Others have been forced to live away from their homes for many years or decades because the conflicts that caused their displacement remain unsolved.