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Why communities hosting internally displaced persons in the Sahel need stronger and more effective legal protection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 April 2022

Steve Tiwa Fomekong
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Abstract

In the Sahel, host communities are among those most affected by recurrent internal displacement, but they are often ignored in responses to displacement. Furthermore, their situation has attracted little attention from researchers or other observers. The present article will argue that it is essential to provide these communities with adequate protection, especially as they play a leading role in providing humanitarian protection and assistance to internally displaced persons (IDPs). The article begins by examining the legal instruments that protect populations affected by forced displacement, in order to identify and present the legal protection they offer to IDP host communities. The article will then analyze and highlight the advantages of fully applying this protection. It will show that the recurrent violence and breaches of the law that these communities suffer are impeding the full realization of those advantages. Finally, the article shall propose solutions that would overcome the deficiencies noted and hence ensure enhanced protection for IDP host communities in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

Keywords

host communityinternally displaced personslegal protectionKampala ConventionSahelBurkina FasoMaliNiger
Type
Internal Displacement
Information
International Review of the Red Cross , Volume 103 , Issue 918: The Sahel , December 2021 , pp. 923 - 957
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the ICRC

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References

1 “Internal displacement” is “the involuntary or forced movement, evacuation or relocation of persons or groups of persons within internationally recognized state borders”. See African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention), 52 ILM 400, 23 October 2009 (entered into force 6 December 2012), Art. 1(1), available at: https://au.int/en/treaties/african-union-convention-protection-and-assistance-internally-displaced-persons-africa. (As this article was originally written in French, the author originally cited this and many other sources in that language. Where possible, this English translation cites the English version of the same source. Where a French source is cited, this is because no English version exists. All internet references were accessed for the purposes of the English translation in January 2022.)

2 As far as we know, there have been no studies devoted specifically to IDP host communities, either in French or in English. The few reports we have identified as addressing the situation of these communities – in a somewhat piecemeal fashion – include Katherine Haver, Out of Site: Building Better Responses to Displacement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by Helping Host Families, Oxfam International Research Report, 2008, available at: www.oxfam.org/en/research/out-site; Roberto Carlos Vidal López, Clara Inés Atehortú Arredondo and Jorge Salcedo, The Effects of Internal Displacement on Host Communities: A Case Study of Suba and Ciudad Bolívar Localities in Bogotá, Colombia, Brookings Institution–London School of Economics Project on Internal Displacement, Bogotá, October 2011, available at: www.brookings.edu/research/the-effects-of-internal-displacement-on-host-communities/; Brigitte Rohwerder, Democratic Republic of the Congo: Internally Displaced Persons and Refugees’ Relations with Host Communities, GSDRC Helpdesk Research Report, Birmingham, November 2013, available at: https://gsdrc.org/publications/democratic-republic-of-the-congo-internally-displaced-persons-and-refugees-relations-with-host-communities/; Anne Davies, IDPs in Host Families and Host Communities: Assistance for Hosting Arrangements, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Geneva, 2012, available at: www.refworld.org/docid/4fe8732c2.html.

3 Bilak, Alexandra, “L'Afrique face à ses déplacés internes”, Politique Étrangère, No. 1, 2016, p. 43Google Scholar (Review's translation), available at: www.cairn.info/revue-politique-etrangere-2016-1-page-39.htm. See also Abebe, Allehone Mulugeta, The Emerging Law of Forced Displacement in Africa: Development and Implementation of the Kampala Convention on Internal Displacement, Routledge, London, 2018, p. 268Google Scholar.

4 See Kampala Convention, preamble, para. 3, and Arts 3(2)(c), 5(5), 9(2)(b).

5 Government of Niger, Loi no. 2018-74 du 10 December 2018 relative à la protection et à l'assistance aux personnes déplacées internes du Niger, 10 December 2018 (Law No. 2018-74), Art. 2(6) (Review's translation), available at: www.refworld.org/docid/5ce404914.html. See also R. C. V. López, C. I. Atehortú Arredondo and J. Salcedo, above note 2, p. 1.

6 See, for example, Protection Cluster Working Group, Handbook for the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons, UNHCR, Geneva, March 2010, p. 505, available at: www.unhcr.org/protection/idps/4c2355229/handbook-protection-internally-displaced-persons.html. See also K. Haver, above note 2, p. 4; A. Davies, above note 2, p. 32.

7 IDPs are generally forced to flee their homes or places of habitual residence as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights, natural disasters or the implementation of development projects. For information on the causes of displacement, see Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), Understanding the Root Causes of Displacement: Towards a Comprehensive Approach to Prevention and Solutions, 2015, available at: www.internal-displacement.org/publications/understanding-the-root-causes-of-displacement-towards-a-comprehensive-approach-to; Ann Mary Olsen, “Understanding and Addressing Root Causes of Displacement”, Devex, 29 February 2016, available at: www.devex.com/news/understanding-and-addressing-root-causes-of-displacement-87785; Wendy Williams, Shifting Borders: Africa's Displacement Crisis and Its Security Implications, Research Paper No. 8, Africa Center for Strategic Studies, Washington, DC, 17 October 2019, available at: https://africacenter.org/publication/shifting-borders-africas-displacement-crisis-and-its-security-implications/.

8 See UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Mali: Aperçu des besoins humanitaires 2021, February 2021, pp. 65, 108, available at: www.humanitarianresponse.info/en/operations/mali/document/aper%C3%A7u-des-besoins-humanitaires-mali; OCHA, Burkina Faso: Aperçu des besoins humanitaires 2021, March 2021, p. 60, available at: https://reliefweb.int/report/burkina-faso/burkina-faso-aper-u-des-besoins-humanitaires-mars-2021; OCHA, Niger: Aperçu des besoins humanitaires, January 2021, pp. 17–18, available at: www.humanitarianresponse.info/en/operations/niger/document/niger-aper%C3%A7u-des-besoins-humanitaires-201; UNHCR Burkina Faso, Conseil Provincial de Secours d'Urgence et de Réhabilitation, Direction Provinciale de la Femme, de la Solidarité Nationale et de la Famille, Profilage des personnes déplacées internes dans la province du Soum, région du Sahel, January 2019, pp. 17–18, available at: https://data2.unhcr.org/es/documents/details/68468.

9 See UNHCR Burkina Faso, above note 8, pp. 14, 17; OCHA, Mali, above note 8, p. 65.

10 It is sometimes thanks to host communities that IDPs have access to revenue-generating activities in the informal sector, including paid work in the fields of host community members or the opportunity to sell goods at local markets.

11 A. Davies, above note 2, p. 7.

12 For details, see IDMC, Global Report on Internal Displacement 2020, April 2020, available at: www.internal-displacement.org/global-report/grid2020/.

13 A. Davies, above note 2, p. 11.

14 See OCHA, Humanitarian Needs and Requirements Overview: Sahel Crisis, 26 April 2021, available at: https://reliefweb.int/report/burkina-faso/sahel-crisis-humanitarian-needs-and-requirements-overview-april-2021; ICRC, “A Conflict without Borders Continues to Play Out in the Sahel”, 8 July 2020, available at: www.icrc.org/en/document/conflict-without-borders-continues-play-out-sahel; Jean-Bernard Véron, “Crises et conflits au Sahel: État des lieux et enjeux économiques”, in Jean-Yves Grosclaude, Laurence Tubiana and Rajendra K. Pachauri, Regards sur la terre 2014: Les promesses de l'innovation durable, Armand Colin, Paris, 2014; Laurence Caramel, “Quatre raisons de s'inquiéter pour le Sahel, et de douter de l'aide au développement”, Le Monde, 20 October 2016, available at: www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2016/10/20/quatre-raisons-de-s-inquieter-pour-le-sahel-et-de-douter-de-l-aide-au-developpement_5017486_3212.html.

15 OCHA, Burkina Faso, above note 8, pp. 60, 73; ACAPS, Escalation of Armed Violence: Burkina Faso, Briefing Note, 1 November 2019, p. 5, available at: https://reliefweb.int/report/burkina-faso/burkina-faso-escalation-armed-violence-briefing-note-1-november-2019; OCHA, above note 14, p. 20.

16 OCHA, Mali, above note 8, pp. 68–69, 80; OCHA, Burkina Faso, above note 8, pp. 65, 80.

17 See OCHA, above note 14, p. 8; ACAPS, above note 15, p. 4; OCHA, Burkina Faso, above note 8, pp. 80–81.

18 This situation is not limited to the Sahel. As Anne Davies rightly points out, “[t]he benefits of reducing vulnerability by assisting IDPs and their hosts before they fall into extreme poverty and deprivation have not yet filtered through to donors. … Few strategies exist in the collective humanitarian toolbox to assist host families or host communities.” A. Davies, above note 2, pp. 5, 7.

19 For examples, see OCHA, Niger, above note 8, p. 71; UNHCR Burkina Faso, above note 8, pp. 19–20; UNHCR Burkina Faso, Profilage des personnes déplacées internes dans la commune de Djibo, province du Soum, région du Sahel, October 2017, p. 26, available at: www.humanitarianresponse.info/es/operations/burkina-faso/document/unhcr-burkina-faso-profilage-des-personnes-d%C3%A9plac%C3%A9es-internes-0. We shall return to this point in more detail later.

20 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, 1155 UNTS 331, 23 May 1969 (entered into force 27 January 1980), Arts 31, 32, available at: https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%201155/volume-1155-I-18232-English.pdf.

21 Here, the term “protection” is used in a generic sense to cover several activities, each of which has its own definition. Furthermore, this article will not always make an absolute distinction between protection and assistance measures. Where such a distinction is made, it is purely for reasons of clarity. Assistance activities frequently play a protective role, and vice versa, making it impossible to separate them. See ICRC, “Le CICR, la ligue et le rapport sur la réévaluation du rôle de la Croix-Rouge III: Protection et assistance en cas de conflits armés”, Revue Internationale de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 18, No. 712, 1978, pp. 205–206, available at: https://international-review.icrc.org/fr/revues/ricr-no-712-revue-internationale-de-la-croix-rouge-08-1978.

22 See AU, “List of Countries which Have Signed, Ratified/Acceded to the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention)”, 18 June 2020, available at: https://tinyurl.com/yu8azckd.

23 The main universal reference on internal displacement, the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, UN Doc. E/CN.4/1998/53/add.2, 11 February 1998, available at: https://undocs.org/E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2, does not cover IDP host communities. The Protocol on the Protection and Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons, 30 November 2006, available at: www.unhcr.org/protection/idps/5ad5a3aa4/international-conference-great-lakes-region-protocol-protection-assistance.html, applies only to the Great Lakes region and contains only one provision regarding host communities. Article 4(1)(e) requires member States to “[e]xtend protection and assistance, according to need, to communities residing in areas hosting internally displaced persons”.

24 Regarding the classification of armed conflicts, see Vité, Sylvain, “Typology of Armed Conflicts in International Humanitarian Law: Legal Concepts and Actual Situations”, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 91, No. 873, 2009CrossRefGoogle Scholar, available at: https://international-review.icrc.org/articles/typology-armed-conflicts-international-humanitarian-law-legal-concepts-and-actual.

25 In addition to setting out provisions that specifically protect people affected by internal displacement resulting from armed conflict – including communities hosting IDPs – the Kampala Convention includes provisions protecting people affected by displacement resulting from other causes, such as generalized violence, natural disaster and the implementation of development projects. Where relevant, those provisions may also apply during armed conflict, as the Kampala Convention does not limit their temporal scope of application.

26 The Kampala Convention contains several references to IHRL and IHL. In its preamble, it mentions the main legal instruments that constitute each of these bodies of law. The Convention addresses human rights issues of current relevance, especially the protection of women against sexual and gender-based violence, the implementation of socioeconomic rights, the role of non-State actors including multinationals and private security companies, and the impact of extractive industries, natural disaster and climate change on human rights and forced displacement. The Kampala Convention includes numerous principles and rules borrowed from IHL – of which the purpose is to protect persons who are not or are no longer taking part in hostilities – which apply in times of armed conflict. These include the obligation to respect and ensure respect for IHL, rules regarding the provision of humanitarian assistance, war crimes, etc. In addition to reaffirming and expanding the rules of IHRL and IHL, the Kampala Convention takes care to avoid undermining those bodies of law, by including a saving clause in Article 20. Paragraph 2 of that article states: “This Convention shall be without prejudice to the human rights of internally displaced persons under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other applicable instruments of international human rights law or international humanitarian law. Similarly, it shall in no way be understood, construed or interpreted as restricting, modifying or impeding existing protection under any of the instruments mentioned herein.” For further details regarding the relationship between IHL and IHRL, see Steve Tiwa Fomekong, “Reflections on Humanitarian Law Dimensions of the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa”, African Yearbook on International Humanitarian Law, 2020; Abebe, Allehone Mulugeta, “The African Union Convention on Internally Displaced Persons: Its Codification Background, Scope, and Enforcement Challenges”, Refugee Survey Quarterly, Vol. 29, No. 3, 2010Google Scholar, available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1713296; Katinka Ridderbos, “The Kampala Convention and Obligations of Armed Groups”, Forced Migration Review, No. 37, March 2011, available at: www.fmreview.org/non-state/Ridderbos; Ojeda, Stephane, “The Kampala Convention on Internally Displaced Persons: Some International Humanitarian Law Aspects”, Refugee Survey Quarterly, Vol. 29, No. 3, 2010, pp. 58–61CrossRefGoogle Scholar, available at: https://academic.oup.com/rsq/article-abstract/29/3/58/1541312; A. Bilak, above note 3, p. 44; Maru, Mehari Taddele, “The Kampala Convention and Its Contribution in Filling the Protection Gap in International Law”, Journal of Internal Displacement, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2011Google Scholar, available at: https://journalofinternaldisplacement.org/index.php/JID/article/view/8/6.

27 Kampala Convention, preamble, para. 3.

28 Ibid., Art. 3(2)(c) (emphasis added).

29 ICRC, Translating the Kampala Convention into Practice: A Stocktaking Exercise, Geneva, October 2016, pp. 46–50, available at: https://shop.icrc.org/translating-the-kampala-convention-into-practice-pdf-en.html.

30 “Need”, Cambridge Dictionary, available at: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/need.

31 See, for instance, OCHA, Mali, above note 8; Humanitarian Coalition, “Humanitarian Needs”, fact sheet, available at: www.humanitariancoalition.ca/sites/default/files/factsheet/humanitarian_needs-_english.pdf; Schwendimann, Felix, “The Legal Framework of Humanitarian Access in Armed Conflict”, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 93, No. 884, 2011CrossRefGoogle Scholar, available at: https://international-review.icrc.org/articles/legal-framework-humanitarian-access-armed-conflict; Jakob Kellenberger, “L'action humanitaire dans les conflits armés actuels: Contexte et besoins”, ICRC, Geneva, 25 January 2001, available at: www.icrc.org/fr/doc/resources/documents/misc/5fzhsu.htm; ICRC, above note 29, pp. 46–50.

32 These types of need are explicitly mentioned in Article 9(2)(b) of the Kampala Convention. See also ICRC, above note 29, p. 49.

33 See ICRC, International Humanitarian Law and the Challenges of Contemporary Armed Conflicts: Recommitting to Protection in Armed Conflict on the 70th Anniversary of the Geneva Conventions, Geneva, 2019, available at: https://shop.icrc.org/international-humanitarian-law-and-the-challenges-of-contemporary-armed-conflicts-recommitting-to-protection-in-armed-conflict-on-the-70th-anniversary-of-the-geneva-conventions.html. On p. 38, this publication includes this type of need among those experienced by civilian populations affected by armed conflict.

34 Steve McDowell, Internal Displacement in North Kivu: Hosting, Camps, and Coping Mechanisms, study prepared for UNICEF DRC and CARE DRC, April 2008, p. 15; K. Haver, above note 2, pp. 25–26.

35 Economic security is defined as the ability of individuals, households or communities to cover their essential needs sustainably and with dignity. See ICRC, “What Is Economic Security?”, 18 June 2015, available at: www.icrc.org/en/document/introduction-economic-security; British Red Cross, Household Economic Security (HES): Technical Guidance for Assessment and Analysis, 26 February 2021, available at: https://cash-hub.org/news-and-events/news-articles/household-economic-security-hes-guidelines-technical-guidance-for-assessment-and-analysis/ (the cited version of this reference is more recent than that cited in the original French version of this article, as the earlier version of the reference was no longer available when this article was translated).

36 See J. Kellenberger, above note 33, p. 38.

37 See African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, 1520 UNTS 217, 27 June 1981 (entered into force 21 October 1986), Arts 22 and 24 respectively, available at: https://au.int/en/treaties/african-charter-human-and-peoples-rights. For an analysis of each of these rights, see Madjid Benchikh, “Article 22”, and Mohamed Ali Mekoua, “Article 22”, in Maurice Kamto (ed.), La Charte africaine des droits de l'homme et des peuples et le Protocole y relatif portant création de la Cour africaine des droits de l'homme: Commentaire article par article, Bruylant, Brussels, 2011.

38 Christelle Cazabat, “The Importance of Monitoring Internal Displacement”, Forced Migration Review, No. 59, October 2018, available at: www.fmreview.org/GuidingPrinciples20/cazabat; Joint IDPs Profiling Service, Making Data Useful: How to Improve the Evidence-Base for Joint Responses to Forced Displacement?, Conference Report, July 2017, available at: www.jips.org/uploads/2018/10/JIPS-Conference-2017-report-vf.pdf.

39 Kampala Convention, Art. 5(5) (emphasis added).

40 ICRC, above note 29, p. 49.

41 For a more detailed analysis of the provisions relating to humanitarian assistance in the Kampala Convention, and the division of responsibility in this area between States and humanitarian organizations, see, for example, Okello, J. O. Moses, “In Lieu of a Travaux Préparatoires: A Commentary on the Kampala Convention for IDPs”, International Journal of Refugee Law, Vol. 31, No. 2–3, 2019, pp. 370–372CrossRefGoogle Scholar, available at: https://academic.oup.com/ijrl/article-abstract/31/2-3/349/5686251; M. Taddele Maru, above note 26, pp. 118–120.

42 This interpretation is based on a joint reading of paragraphs 5 and 6 of Article 5, and is claimed to correspond to the intention of the States party to the Kampala Convention. Paragraph 6 limits the general obligation on States to cooperate with organizations regarding protection and assistance to IDPs by stating that this obligation applies “where available resources are inadequate” to enable them to provide sufficient protection and assistance to IDPs. J. O. Moses Okello, above note 41, p. 371, reveals that this provision was included to allay the fears of certain States, expressed during the preparatory sessions, that obliging them to cooperate on a matter that fell under their primary sphere of competence impinged on the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of States.

43 African Union Model Law for the Implementation of the African Union Convention for the Protection of and Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons in Africa, January 2018 (AU Model Law), Art. 1, available at: www.refworld.org/docid/5afc3a494.html.

44 M. Taddele Maru, above note 26, pp. 118–120.

45 ICRC, above note 29, p. 42.

46 See ICRC, Professional Standards for Protection Work, Geneva, 2018, pp. 28–32, available at: https://shop.icrc.org/professional-standards-for-protection-work-print-en.html. Regarding children, see Canadian International Development Agency, Children's Participation in Humanitarian Action: Learning from Zones of Armed Conflict, Quebec, 2007, available at: https://publications.gc.ca/site/fra/9.689421/publication.html. Regarding IDPs, see Brookings Institution and University of Bern, Protecting Internally Displaced Persons: A Manual for Law and Policymakers, Project on Internal Displacement, October 2008, pp. 31–32, available at: www.brookings.edu/research/protecting-internally-displaced-persons-a-manual-for-law-and-policymakers/; ICRC, above note 29, pp. 8, 11.

47 Kampala Convention, Art. 9(2)(b) (Review's translation, which differs from the official English version).

48 See also M. Taddele Maru, above note 26, who emphasizes on p. 118 that supplying humanitarian assistance as required by the Kampala Convention depends on the capacity of the State.

49 AU Model Law, above note 43, Art. 4(1)(6).

50 See F. Schwendimann, above note 31, p. 996.

51 UN Charter, 26 June 1945 (entered into force 24 October 1945), Art. 2(1), available at: www.un.org/en/about-us/un-charter.

52 See F. Schwendimann, above note 31, who provides a list of resolutions supporting this practice on p. 996.

53 See Article 3(2) common to the four Geneva Conventions and Article 10 of Geneva Convention IV; Protocol Additional (I) to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts, 1125 UNTS 3, 8 June 1977 (entered into force 7 December 1978) (AP I), Art. 70(1), available at: https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/ihl/INTRO/470; Protocol Additional (II) to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts, 1125 UNTS 609, 8 June 1977 (entered into force 7 December 1978) (AP II), Art. 18(1–2), available at: https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/INTRO/475.

54 This view is based, in particular, on the principles of humanity, impartiality, non-discrimination, neutrality and independence. For details regarding these principles, see the preamble to the Statutes and Rules of Procedure of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, adopted by the 25th International Conference of the Red Cross at Geneva in October 1986 and amended by the 26th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent at Geneva in December 1995 and by the 29th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent at Geneva in June 2006 (Statutes of the Movement), available at: www.icrc.org/en/publication/0911-statutes-and-rules-procedure-international-red-cross-and-red-crescent-movement. See also F. Schwendimann, above note 31, p. 997; Jean Pictet, Les Principes de la Croix-Rouge, ICRC, Geneva, 1955.

55 International Court of Justice (ICJ), Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v. United States of America), 1986, para. 242, available at: www.icj-cij.org/en/case/70.

56 See F. Schwendimann, above note 31; Denise Plattner, “Assistance à la population civile dans le droit international humanitaire: Évolution et actualités”, Revue Internationale de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 74, No. 795, 1992, available at: https://international-review.icrc.org/fr/articles/lassistance-la-population-civile-dans-le-droit-international-humanitaire-evolution-et; Françoise Bouchet-Saulnier, “Consent to Humanitarian Access: An Obligation Triggered by Territorial Control, not States’ Rights”, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 96, No. 893, 2014, available at: https://international-review.icrc.org/articles/consent-humanitarian-access-obligation-triggered-territorial-control-not-states-rights.

57 This definition is based on the definition of “protection” in ICRC, above note 21, p. 206. See also UNHCR, “Glossary of Terms”, in The Protection Induction Programme Handbook, 2006, available at: www.refworld.org/pdfid/466e71c32.pdf.

58 Kampala Convention, Art. 3(1)(f).

59 Ibid., Art. 9(2)(g).

60 Ibid., Art. 7(5)(i).

61 See, for example, Giustiniani, Flavia Zorzi, “New Hopes and Challenges for the Protection of IDPs in Africa: The Kampala Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa”, Denver Journal of International Law and Policy, Vol. 39, No. 2, 2011, pp. 365–366Google Scholar, available at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/djilp/vol39/iss2/5/; M. Taddele Maru, above note 26, p. 120.

62 See AU Model Law, above note 43, Art. 12(1–2).

63 Ibid., Art. 12(3) (emphasis added).

64 See Michel-Cyr Djiena Wembou et al., Le droit international humanitaire: Théorie générale et réalités africaines, Collection logiques juridiques, L'Harmattan, Paris, 2000, pp. 303 ff.; Steve Tiwa Fomekong, “La contribution de l'Union africaine au droit international humanitaire”, doctoral thesis, Université Laval, Quebec, 2020, pp. 137–140, available at: https://corpus.ulaval.ca/jspui/handle/20.500.11794/67788.

65 Kampala Convention, preamble, para. 3.

66 AP I, Art. 17(1): “The civilian population … shall be permitted, even on their own initiative, to collect and care for the wounded, sick and shipwrecked, even in invaded or occupied areas. No one shall be harmed, prosecuted, convicted or punished for such humanitarian acts.” This has been interpreted as meaning that the civilian population has an “absolute right” to care for and assist the wounded, sick and shipwrecked. See Yves Sandoz, Christophe Swinarski and Bruno Zimmermann (eds), Commentary on the Additional Protocols of 8 June 1977 to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, ICRC, Geneva, 1987, p. 215, para. 713, available at: www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/pdf/Commentary_GC_Protocols.pdf. According to the letter of Article 17(1), and given the field of application of AP I, this right only applies in connection with the wounded, sick and shipwrecked of international armed conflicts.

67 AP I, Art. 48; Jean-Marie Henckaerts and Louise Doswald-Beck (eds), Customary International Humanitarian Law, Vol. 1: Rules, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2005 (ICRC Customary Law Study), Rules 1, 7, available at: https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/v1_rul.

68 Civilians are persons who are not members of the armed forces. See ICRC Customary Law Study, above note 67, Rule 5.

69 AP I, Art. 50(2) states that “[t]he civilian population comprises all persons who are civilians”.

70 See ICRC Customary Law Study, above note 67, Rule 9; AP I, Art. 52(2–3).

71 For details regarding the concept of direct participation in hostilities, see Nils Melzer, Interpretive Guidance on the Notion of Direct Participation in Hostilities under International Humanitarian Law, ICRC, Geneva, 2009, available at: https://shop.icrc.org/interpretive-guidance-on-the-notion-of-direct-participation-in-hostilities-under-international-humanitarian-law-print-en.html.

72 Ibid., pp. 65–73.

73 Kampala Convention, Art. 9(2)(g).

74 Ibid.

75 See UNHCR and ICRC, Aide-mémoire: Operational Guidance on Maintaining the Civilian and Humanitarian Character of Sites and Settlements, Geneva, July 2018, pp. 7–8, available at: www.refworld.org/docid/5b55c6fe4.html. See also, to a certain degree, UNHCR, Guidance Note on Maintaining the Civilian and Humanitarian Character of Asylum, Geneva, December 2018, p. 8, available at: www.refworld.org/docid/452b9bca2.html, which applies specifically in the fairly similar case of refugees (the cited version of this reference is more recent than that cited in the original French version of this article, as the earlier version of the reference was no longer available when this article was translated).

76 UNHCR and ICRC, above note 75, pp. 7–8.

77 See ibid., pp. 11–17; CAR Protection Cluster, L'impératif d’établir et de maintenir le caractère civil et humanitaire des sites de personnes déplacées internes en RCA: Note d'Orientation, April 2016, pp. 1–2, available at: www.globalprotectioncluster.org/_assets/files/field_protection_clusters/Central_African_Republic/files/note-orientation_caractere-civil-sites_finale.fr.pdf.

78 CAR Protection Cluster, above note 77, pp. 1–2.

79 AP I, Art. 50(3).

80 See AP I, Art. 51(5)(b); ICRC Customary Law Study, above note 67, Rule 14.

81 See AP I, Art. 57; ICRC Customary Law Study, above note 67, Rule 15.

82 ICRC, Commentary on the First Geneva Convention: Convention (I) for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field, 2nd edition, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2016 (ICRC Commentary on GC I), para. 811, available at: https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/ihl/full/GCI-commentary.

83 ICJ, Nicaragua, above note 55, para. 242.

84 See Statutes of the Movement, above note 54, preamble.

85 ICRC Commentary on GC I, above note 82, para. 811. See also Pictet, Jean, “Les principes fondamentaux de la Croix-Rouge: Commentaire (I)”, Revue Internationale de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 19, No. 717, June 1979Google Scholar, available at: https://international-review.icrc.org/fr/articles/les-principes-fondamentaux-de-la-croix-rouge-commentaire; Janmyr, Maja, “Revisiting the Civilian and Humanitarian Character of Refugee Camps”, in Cantor, David and Durieux, Jean François (eds), Refuge from Inhumanity? War Refugees and International Humanitarian Law, International Refugee Law Series, Vol. 2, Brill Nijhoff, Leiden, 2014, pp. 242–243Google Scholar.

86 AP I, Art. 17.

87 UNHCR and ICRC, above note 75, p. 14.

88 Ibid., pp. 14–15.

89 Ibid., p. 15.

90 Ibid., pp. 7, 9.

91 See Art. 1 common to the four Geneva Conventions and to AP I; ICRC Customary Law Study, above note 67, Rule 1.

92 ICRC Commentary on GC I, above note 82, paras 144, 120. See also de Chazournes, Laurence Boisson and Condorelli, Luigi, “Common Article 1 of the Geneva Conventions Revisited: Protecting Collective Interests”, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 82, No. 837, 2000, p. 69Google Scholar, available at: https://international-review.icrc.org/fr/articles/common-article-1-geneva-conventions-revisited-protecting-collective-interests.

93 ICRC Commentary on GC I, above note 82, paras 144, 120, 150. See also Luigi Condorelli and Laurence Boisson de Chazournes, “Quelques remarques à propos de l'obligation des États de ‘respecter et faire respecter’ le droit international humanitaire ‘en toutes circonstances’”, in Christophe Swinarski (ed.), Études et essais sur le droit international humanitaire et sur les principes de la Croix-Rouge en l'honneur de Jean Pictet, ICRC, Geneva, 1984, p. 24, available at: https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:15023. However, certain authors maintain that the obligation to “ensure respect” obliges States only to take all measures necessary to ensure respect for the Geneva Conventions on the part of government bodies and of private individuals for which the State is responsible. See Kalshoven, Frits, “The Undertaking to Respect and to Ensure Respect in All Circumstances: From Tiny Seed to Ripening Fruit”, Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law, Vol. 2, 1999, p. 60CrossRefGoogle Scholar, available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1389135900000362; Zych, Tomasz, “The Scope of the Obligation to Respect and to Ensure Respect for International Humanitarian Law”, Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice, Vol. 27, No. 2, 2009CrossRefGoogle Scholar, available at: https://wyaj.uwindsor.ca/index.php/wyaj/article/view/4528.

94 The full title of the Convention is the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (emphasis added).

95 Maria Stavropoulou, “The Kampala Convention and Protection from Arbitrary Displacement”, Forced Migration Review, No. 36, November 2010, p. 62, available at: www.fmreview.org/DRCongo/stavropoulou.htm.

96 Kampala Convention, Art. 2(b).

97 Ibid., Art. 1(i).

98 Mangala, Jack M., “Prévention des déplacements forcés de population: Possibilités et limites”, Revue Internationale de la Croix-Rouge, Vol. 83, No. 844, 2001, p. 1067Google Scholar (Review's translation), available at: https://international-review.icrc.org/fr/articles/prevention-des-deplacements-forces-de-population-possibilities-et-limites.

99 Kampala Convention, Art. 3(1).

100 Ibid., Art. 4(4).

101 Ibid.

102 AP II, Art. 17(1); ICRC Customary Law Study, above note 67, Rule 129(B).

103 See Carey, Carlyn, “Internal Displacement: Is Prevention through Accountability Possible? A Kosovo Case Study”, American University Law Review, Vol. 49, No. 1, 1999, p. 267Google Scholar, available at: https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/aulr/vol49/iss1/4/. For a somewhat opposing viewpoint, see Willms, Jan, “Without Order, Anything Goes? The Prohibition of Forced Displacement in Non-International Armed Conflict”, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 91, No. 875, 2009CrossRefGoogle Scholar, available at: https://international-review.icrc.org/articles/without-order-anything-goes-prohibition-forced-displacement-non-international-armed. According to Willms, an interpretation based on the objectives of AP II would allow one to argue that IHL prohibits forced displacement regardless of whether it is ordered. She maintains that requiring an order to have been issued could encourage States to use indirect forms of coercion to displace the civilian population. Be that as it may, the corresponding provision of the Kampala Convention, which makes no reference to an order, is much less open to differing interpretations.

104 Kampala Convention, Art. 3(1)(a).

105 Ibid., Art. 4(6).

106 Article 1(n) of the Kampala Convention defines “non-State actors” as private actors who are not public officials of the State, including non-State armed groups, and whose acts cannot be officially attributed to the State.

107 Ibid., Art. 3(1)(i).

108 For examples, see UN Security Council, Final Report of the Panel of Experts on the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, UN Doc. S/2002/1146, 16 October 2002, available at: https://undocs.org/S/2002/1146; Özden Melik, Transnational Corporations’ Impunity, CETIM, 2016, pp. 44–62, available at: www.cetim.ch/product/transnational-corporations-impunity/; Daniëlla Dam-de Jong, International Law and Governance of Natural Resources in Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2015, pp. 1–30.

109 Kampala Convention, Art. 4(1).

110 See Valérie Amos, “Preventing Displacement”, Forced Migration Review, No. 41, December 2012, available at: www.fmreview.org/preventing/amos; Cédric Cotter, Displacement in Times of Armed Conflict: How International Humanitarian Law Protects in War, and Why it Matters, ICRC, Geneva, 2019, p. 14, available at: https://shop.icrc.org/displacement-in-times-of-armed-conflict-how-international-humanitarian-law-protects-in-war-and-why-it-matters-pdf-en.html. For studies of specific cases, see Geoffroy, Agnès de, “Fleeing War and Relocating to the Urban Fringe – Issues and Actors: The Cases of Khartoum and Bogotá”, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 91, No. 875, 2009CrossRefGoogle Scholar, available at: https://international-review.icrc.org/articles/fleeing-war-and-relocating-urban-fringe-issues-and-actors-cases-khartoum-and-bogota; Nancy Lozano-Gracia, Gianfranco Piras, Ana Maria Ibáñez and Geoffrey J. D. Hewings, “The Journey to Safety: Conflict-Driven Migration Flows in Colombia”, International Regional Science Review, Vol. 33, No. 2, 2009, available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0160017609336998; Ensor, Marisa O., “Displaced Girlhood: Gendered Dimensions of Coping and Social Change among Conflict-Affected South Sudanese Youth”, Refuge, Vol. 30, No. 1, 2014CrossRefGoogle Scholar, available at: https://refuge.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/refuge/article/view/38599; Gil Loescher, James Milner, Edward Newman and Gary Troeller (eds), Protracted Refugee Situations: Political, Human Rights and Security Implications, United Nations University Press, 2008, available at: https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/646997?ln=en; Healy, Sean and Tiller, Sandrine, “Be Near a Road: Humanitarian Practice and Displaced Persons in North Kivu”, Refugee Survey Quarterly, Vol. 35, No. 2, 2016CrossRefGoogle Scholar, available at: https://academic.oup.com/rsq/article-abstract/35/2/56/2223323; Kateryna Ivashchenko-Stadnik, The Impact of the Current Military Conflict on Migration and Mobility in Ukraine, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, Research Paper No. RSCAS 2015/15, 2015, available at: https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/34804; Patricia Weiss Fagen, Refugees and IDPs after Conflict: Why They Do Not Go Home, United States Institute of Peace, Special Report No. 268, April 2011, available at: www.usip.org/publications/2011/04/refugees-and-idps-after-conflict.

111 Jakob Kellenberger, “Root Causes and Prevention of Internal Displacement: The ICRC Perspective”, statement given to the Special Summit on Refugees, Returnees and IDPs in Africa, Kampala, 23 October 2009, available at: www.icrc.org/en/doc/resources/documents/statement/displacement-statement-231009.htm; ICRC, Strengthening Legal Protection for Victims of Armed Conflicts, Geneva, 2011, p. 22, available at: www.icrc.org/en/doc/resources/documents/report/31-international-conference-strengthening-ihl-report-2011-10-31.htm.

112 Kampala Convention, Art. 5(5).

113 See Brookings Institution and University of Bern, above note 46, pp. 24, 54–58.

114 See ICRC, above note 29, p. 49.

115 See Elise Shea and Marie-Françoise Sitnam, Renforcement de la redevabilité envers les populations affectées: Burkina Faso, Ground Truth Solutions, H2H Network and OCHA, November 2020, pp. 6–7, 22, available at: www.humanitarianresponse.info/en/operations/burkina-faso/document/burkina-faso-renforcement-de-la-redevabilit%C3%A9-envers-les-populations; UNHCR, Rapport final: Consultations avec les personnes déplacées internes et les communautés hôtes au nom du Panel de haut niveau sur le déplacement interne, September 2020, available at: www.sheltercluster.org/burkina-faso/documents/consultations-avec-les-personnes-deplacees-internes-et-les-communautes-hotes.

116 See E. Shea and M.-F. Sitnam, above note 115, pp. 16 ff.

117 ICRC, Internal Displacement in Armed Conflict: Facing Up to the Challenges, Geneva, November 2009, p. 12, available at: https://shop.icrc.org/internal-displacement-in-armed-conflict-facing-up-to-the-challenges-pdf-en.html.

118 S. McDowell, above note 34, p. 22; K. Haver, above note 2, pp. 16–22; A. Davies, above note 2, p. 10.

119 A. Davies, above note 2, p. 10.

120 K. Haver, above note 2, p. 5.

121 See Law No. 2018-74, above note 5, Arts 2(6), 17, 21.

122 Ibid., Art. 2(6). See the introduction to this article for details.

123 Ministère de la Solidarité, de l'Action Humanitaire et de la Reconstruction du Nord, Mali: Stratégie nationale de gestion des personnes déplacées internes et des rapatriés (2015-2017) (et Plan d'actions), May 2015, available at: www.refworld.org/docid/5b3f40a24.html.

124 Republic of Mali, Avant-projet de loi portant protection et assistance aux personnes déplacées internes en République du Mali, 30 August 2019, Arts 2(5), 21(1), 28, available at: www.humanitarianresponse.info/sites/www.humanitarianresponse.info/files/documents/files/mali_-_avant-projet_de_loi_sur_la_protection_et_lassistance_des_pdis_-_revision_finale_-_30_aout_2019.pdf.

125 See IDMC and NRC, A Review of the Normative Framework in Kenya relating to the Protection of IDPs, Geneva, August 2015, available at: www.internal-displacement.org/publications/a-review-of-the-normative-framework-in-kenya-relating-to-the-protection-of-idps; IDMC and NRC, Applying the Kampala Convention in the Context of Zimbabwe, Geneva, February 2015, available at: www.internal-displacement.org/publications/applying-the-kampala-convention-in-the-context-of-zimbabwe; IDMC and NRC, Domesticating the Kampala Convention: Law and Policy Making, Geneva, July 2014, pp. 28–32, available at: www.internal-displacement.org/publications/domesticating-the-kampala-convention-law-and-policy-making (regarding support for the process within Liberia of ratifying and implementing the Kampala Convention).

126 See Clémentine André, “Expert Opinion: Why More Data is Needed to Unveil the True Scale of the Displacement Crises in Burkina Faso and Cameroon”, IDMC, April 2020, available at: www.internal-displacement.org/expert-opinion/why-more-data-is-needed-to-unveil-the-true-scale-of-the-displacement-crises-in; A. Bilak, above note 3, pp. 41–43; ACAPS, above note 15, p. 5.

127 C. André, above note 126.

128 For instance, the report Profilage des personnes déplacées internes, région du Sahel, province du Soum (UNHCR Burkina Faso, above note 8), which was produced following a needs assessment conducted between 20 December 2018 and 14 January 2019, only covers the needs of IDPs, although it does give the percentages of IDPs living with host families and in other accommodation. This is also the case with the report Profilage des personnes déplacées internes dans la commune de Djibo, province du Soum, région du Sahel (UNHCR Burkina Faso, above note 19). See also Direction Nationale du Développement Social (Mali), International Organization for Migration (IOM) and UNHCR, Mali – rapport de déplacement (avril 2020), Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), April 2020 (Mali DTM Report), available at: https://dtm.iom.int/reports/mali-%E2%80%94-rapport-de-d%C3%A9placement-avril-2020.

129 See Mali Protection Cluster, Travailler ensemble pour la protection des personnes déplacées internes (PDI) au Mali, 2018, available at: https://reliefweb.int/report/mali/travailler-ensemble-pour-la-protection-des-personnes-d-plac-es-internes-pdi-au-mali. That document sets out the main achievements of the Protection Cluster, which consists of fifty-one member organizations (four linked to the Malian government, nine civil society organizations, twenty-nine NGOs and nine UN agencies) plus thirteen observers and donors. It makes no mention of any measures specifically aimed at host communities.

130 ICRC, above note 117, p. 4. See also F. Z. Giustiniani, above note 61, p. 365.

131 OCHA, above note 14, pp. 10–11, 22; ACAPS, Humanitarian Access Overview, March 2018, available at: www.acaps.org/sites/acaps/files/products/files/humanitarian_access_overview_march_2018_acaps.pdf.

132 ACAPS, above note 131.

133 Ibid.

134 See, for example, Kampala Convention, Art. 5(7) and 5(10) concerning States, and Art. 7(5)(g–h) concerning non-State armed groups.

135 For details regarding this approach, see Fidèle Bakyono, “Diagnostic et analyse des stratégies d'intervention des organisations humanitaires dans les zones à risque terroristes: Cas des régions du Sahel, de l'Est, du Centre-Nord et de la Boucle du Mouhoun au Burkina Faso”, master's diss., Université Laval, Quebec, 2021, pp. 65–67, 75–77, available at: https://corpus.ulaval.ca/jspui/handle/20.500.11794/68551.

136 Casey Barrs, “Preparing for Self-Preservation”, Forced Migration Review, No. 53, October 2016, available at: www.fmreview.org/community-protection/barrs; K. Haver, above note 2, p. 30; Simran Singh and Jessie Thomson, “Building Forward: Localization and Decolonization of Aid”, CARE, 10 February 2021, available at: https://care.ca/2021/02/building-forward-localization-and-decolonization-of-aid/.

137 C. Barrs, above note 136, p. 64; K. Haver, above note 2, p. 30.

138 See, for example, AU and United Nations Development Programme, The Impact of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Governance, Peace and Security in the Sahel, Regional Brief, Addis Ababa, 22 January 2021, available at: https://au.int/en/documents/20210122/impact-covid-19-outbreak-governance-peace-and-security-sahel (the cited version of this reference is more recent than that cited in the original French version of this article, as the earlier version of the reference was no longer available when this article was translated).

139 See, for example, Clémentine André, “Expert Opinion: The Sahel: A Protection Crisis Aggravated by the COVID-19 Pandemic”, IDMC, October 2020, available at: www.internal-displacement.org/expert-opinion/the-sahel-a-protection-crisis-aggravated-by-the-covid-19-pandemic; Julie Coleman, “The Impact of Coronavirus on Terrorism in the Sahel”, International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, The Hague, 16 April 2020, available at: https://icct.nl/publication/the-impact-of-coronavirus-on-terrorism-in-the-sahel/.

140 “Food Insecurity in West Africa Could Leave 43 Million at Risk as Coronavirus Hits”, UN News, 5 May 2020, available at: https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/05/1063232; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, When a Global Virus Meets Local Realities: Coronavirus (COVID-19) in West Africa, 11 May 2020, available at: www.oecd.org/coronavirus/policy-responses/when-a-global-virus-confronts-local-realities-coronavirus-covid-19-in-west-africa-8af7f692/.

141 AU, Declaration on Food Security and Nutrition during the COVID-19 Pandemic, 16 April 2020, para. x, available at: https://au.int/en/documents/20200427/declaration-food-security-and-nutrition-during-covid-19-pandemic.

142 Alexandra Lamarche, Mounting Hunger in the Sahel: The Unintended Impact of COVID-19 Prevention, Refugees International, 11 June 2020, available at: www.refugeesinternational.org/reports/2020/6/8/mounting-hunger-in-the-sahel-the-unintended-impact-of-covid-19-prevention.

143 Ibid.

144 Ibid.

145 Ibid.

146 Ibid.

147 Ibid.

148 See above note 110 for references on this topic.

149 C. Cotter, above note 110, p. 14.

150 For details, see, for instance, OCHA, Mali, above note 8; OCHA, Burkina Faso, above note 8; OCHA, Niger, above note 8; ACAPS, above note 15, pp. 74–75. For recent statistics concerning attacks in each of these countries, see the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project website, available at: https://acleddata.com/#/dashboard.

151 For details concerning the international forces present, see the article by Moda Dieng and Amadou G. Mfondi in this issue of the Review.

152 For details on this point, see the article by Niagalé Bagayoko in this issue of the Review.

153 See: United Nations, Report of the International Commission of Inquiry for Mali, UN Doc. S/2020/1332, 19 June 2020, available at: https://undocs.org/S/2020/1332; United Nations, Joint Force of the Group of Five for the Sahel: Report of the Secretary-General, UN Doc. S/2020/1074, 2 November 2020, pp. 4 ff., available at: https://undocs.org/S/2020/1074; Human Rights Watch, “Burkina Faso: Residents’ Accounts Point to Mass Executions”, 8 July 2020, available at: www.hrw.org/news/2020/07/08/burkina-faso-residents-accounts-point-mass-executions; Human Rights Watch, “By Day We Fear the Army, By Night the Jihadists”: Abuses by Armed Islamists and Security Forces in Burkina Faso, 2018, available at: www.hrw.org/report/2018/05/21/day-we-fear-army-night-jihadists/abuses-armed-islamists-and-security-forces.

154 Arzouma Kompaoré, “Kaboré appelle à la ‘mobilisation générale contre le terrorisme’”, VOA Afrique, 8 November 2019, available at: https://tinyurl.com/bddnbw7p.

155 Human Rights Watch, “Burkina Faso: New Massacres by Islamist Armed Groups”, 23 April 2020, available at: www.hrw.org/news/2020/04/23/burkina-faso-new-massacres-islamist-armed-groups.

156 ACAPS, above note 15, pp. 4–5.

157 Profile reports regarding displacement in the Sahel all agree that violence and violations of fundamental rights are the main reason for arbitrary displacement, if not the only reason. See, for example, UNHCR Burkina Faso, Profilage des personnes déplacées internes dans la commune de Djibo, above note 19; IOM, Niger: Suivi des urgences, DTM, July 2021, available at: https://dtm.iom.int/reports/niger-%E2%80%94-suivi-des-urgences-2-22%E2%80%9426-juin-2021; ACAPS, above note 15, pp. 4–5; Mali DTM Report, above note 128, p. 6.

158 Government of Burkina Faso et al., Mission conjointe d’évaluation des besoins des personnes déplacées internes et des communautés hôtes dans le Centre Nord: Rapport final, 24 July 2019, p. 9, available at: https://data2.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/70498.

159 See, for example, NRC, “Burkina Faso Shattered by World's Fastest Growing Displacement Crisis”, 28 January 2020, available at: www.nrc.no/news/2020/january/burkina-faso-shattered-by-worlds-fastest-growing-displacement-crisis/.

160 IDMC, above note 12.

161 Olivier Bangerter, “Talking to Armed Groups”, Forced Migration Review, No. 37, 2011, available at: www.fmreview.org/non-state/Bangerter.

162 For an analysis of the underlying causes of forced displacement, see J. M. Mangala, above note 98; Jack Mangala Munuma, Le déplacement forcé de population comme nouvelle dimension de sécurité: Rôle et responsabilités de l'OTAN, research report submitted to NATO, 2001, available at: www.nato.int/acad/fellow/99-01/munuma.pdf. See also the references cited at above note 7.

163 See ICRC, Bringing IHL Home: Guidelines on the National Implementation of International Humanitarian Law, Geneva, 19 July 2021, pp. 35–36, available at: www.icrc.org/en/document/bringing-ihl-home-guidelines-national-implementation-international-humanitarian-law; ICRC, above note 29, p. 9.

164 See Government of Burkina Faso and Burkinabé Red Cross Society, “Diffusion du droit international humanitaire au niveau national à travers la mise en œuvre du Plan d'action national 2019–2023 de mise en œuvre du DIH et de celui de la CEDEAO 2019–2023”, December 2019, available at: https://rcrcconference.org/app/uploads/2019/12/33IC-Engagement-BF-Diffusion-du-DIH.pdf, in which the government of Burkina Faso and the Burkinabé Red Cross Society acknowledge that the rules of IHL are still insufficiently well-known in Burkina Faso and jointly undertake to step up the dissemination of those rules.

165 See ibid.

166 Ibid.

167 Lawyers Without Borders Canada, Accès à la justice au Mali: Une réalité à bâtir, 2016, p. 40, available at: www.ceci.ca/en/news-events/acces-a-la-justice-au-mali-une-realite-a-batir.

168 Regarding the way to approach this issue, see Bernard, Vincent, “Editorial: Engaging Armed Groups”, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 93, No. 883, 2011Google Scholar, available at: https://international-review.icrc.org/articles/editorial-engaging-armed-groups; O. Bangerter, above note 161, pp. 4–6.

169 See, for example, Lawyers Without Borders Canada, above note 167; Human Rights Watch, “By Day We Fear the Army”, above note 153, pp. 43–46.

170 Lawyers Without Borders Canada and International Federation for Human Rights, “Mali: New Project Makes the Fight Against Impunity a Priority”, 4 February 2021, available at: www.asfcanada.ca/en/medias/news/mali-project-international-cooperation-fight-impunity-2021/.

171 Ibid.; Lawyers Without Borders Canada, L'Affaire Al Mahdi: Et maintenant? Les enjeux de la lutte contre l'impunité au Mali, 2017, pp. 8–14.

172 See Anne-Marie La Rosa, “Sanctions as a Means of Obtaining Greater Respect for Humanitarian Law: A Review of their Effectiveness”, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 90, No. 870, 2008, available at: https://international-review.icrc.org/articles/sanctions-means-obtaining-greater-respect-humanitarian-law-review-their-effectiveness; Robert Cryer, “The Role of International Criminal Prosecutions in Increasing Compliance with International Humanitarian Law in Contemporary African Conflicts”, in Heike Krieger and Janice L. Willms (eds), Inducing Compliance with International Humanitarian Law: Lessons from the African Great Lakes Region, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2015, available at: https://tinyurl.com/mwyh2yrk.

173 Lawyers Without Borders Canada, above note 167; Abdourahamane Oumarou Ly, L'accès à la justice au Niger: L'autoreprésentation devant les juridictions, L'Harmattan, Paris, 2021; Fofana, Habibou, “Bringing Justice Closer to the People: An Ethnography of ‘Judicial Distance’ in Burkina Faso”, Droit et Société, Vol. 99, No. 2, 2018Google Scholar, available at: www.cairn-int.info/journal-droit-et-societe-2018-2-page-393.htm; Carolyn Logan, PP39: Ambitious SDG Goal Confronts Challenging Realities: Access to Justice is Still Elusive for Many Africans, Afrobarometer Policy Paper No. 39, March 2017, available at: https://afrobarometer.org/publications/pp39-access-to-justice-in-africa; American Bar Association, Access to Justice Assessment for Mali, 2012, p. 40, available at: www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/directories/roli/mali/mali_access_to_justice_assessment_2012.authcheckdam.pdf.

174 See the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa project “Appui à la justice au Burkina Faso pour renforcer la lutte contre l'impunité au travers d'un système judiciaire plus accessible et efficace”, available at: https://ec.europa.eu/trustfundforafrica/region/sahel-lake-chad/burkina-faso/appui-la-justice-au-burkina-faso-pour-renforcer-la-lutte-contre_en. See also Lawyers Without Borders Canada and International Federation for Human Rights, above note 170.

175 M.-C. Djiena Wembou et al., above note 64, pp. 303 ff (Review's translation). The expression “African customs” refers to the set of unwritten rules, practices, ideologies and traditions that regulate the life and social structure of African communities.

176 Hadiya Wague, “‘Diatiguiya’: Le sens de la cordialité et de l'hospitalité malienne”, Journal du Mali, 15 August 2010, available at: www.soninkara.com/societe/organisation-sociale/diatiguiya--le-sens-de-la-cordialite-et-de-lhospitalite-malienne..html.

177 UNHCR, “‘Mon étranger est mon Dieu’: L'hospitalité des habitants de Diffa”, video, 26 December 2014, available at: https://unhcrniger.tumblr.com/post/106224240429/mon-etranger-est-mon-dieu-lhospitalite-des.

178 W. Gunther Plaut, Asylum: A Moral Dilemma, Praeger, Westport, CT, 1995; Jeff Crisp, Africa's Refugees: Patterns, Problems and Policy Challenges, UNHCR Working Paper No. 28, August 2000, available at: www.unhcr.org/research/working/3ae6a0c78/africas-refugees-patterns-problems-policy-challenges-jeff-crisp.html.

179 J. O. M. Okello, above note 41, p. 361; “Le Niger continuera à servir de pays de transit pour les demandeurs d'asile”, Europe 1, 8 July 2018, available at: www.europe1.fr/international/le-niger-continuera-a-servir-de-pays-de-transit-pour-les-demandeurs-dasile-3704459. See also M.-C. Djiena Wembou et al., above note 64, pp. 205 ff; Mubiala, Mutoy, “The Contribution of African Human Rights Traditions and Norms to United Nations Human Rights Law”, Human Rights & International Legal Discourse, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2010Google Scholar, available at: www.hrild.org/en/journal/hrild/4-2/the-contribution-of-african-human-rights-traditions-and-norms-to-united-nations-human-rights-law/index.html#page/210/search/; Michel Kouam, “Enjeux éthiques de l'action humanitaire en Afrique”, in Shimbi Kamba Katchelewa (ed.), L'humanitaire: Un univers à réhabiliter, Presses de l'Université Laval, Quebec, 2011.

180 Regarding this aspect of the role of media and communication in humanitarian action, see Rony Brauman and René Backmann, Les médias et l'humanitaire: Éthique de l'information ou charité-spectacle, CFPJ, Paris, 1996; Luc Boltanski, La souffrance à distance: Morale humanitaire, médias et politique, Leçons De Choses, Éditions Métailié, Paris, 1993.

181 M.-C. Djiena Wembou et al., above note 64, pp. 303 ff.

182 Ibid., pp. 303 ff. See also Kampala Convention, preamble, para. 3.

183 See African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Art. 29(4), 29(7); African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, OAU Doc. CAB/LEG/153/Rev2, 11 June 1990 (entered into force 29 November 1999), Arts 11(2)(c), 31(c–d), available at: https://au.int/en/treaties/african-charter-rights-and-welfare-child; Charter for African Cultural Renaissance, 24 January 2008, Art. 3(k), available at: https://au.int/en/treaties/charter-african-cultural-renaissance; African Youth Charter, 2 July 2006 (entered into force 8 August 2009), Art. 26, available at: https://au.int/en/treaties/african-youth-charter.

184 Brookings Institution and University of Bern, above note 46, p. 24.

185 AU Model Law, above note 43, Art. 53(1).

186 ICRC, above note 117, p. 4.

187 ICRC, above note 29, pp. 48–49.

188 Government of Burkina Faso et al., above note 158, pp. 7–8; UNHCR Burkina Faso, above note 8, p. 21.

189 See, for example, Government of Burkina Faso et al., above note 158, pp. 7–8; UNHCR Burkina Faso, above note 8, p. 21.

190 See also A. Davies, above note 2, p. 5.

191 The international funding that the Sahelian countries receive for meeting the humanitarian challenges they face is totally inadequate. For instance, the response plans for the countries of this region are still seriously underfunded: the plan for Burkina Faso is only 24% funded, the plan for Mali 26%, and the plan for Niger only 19%. For details, see OCHA, “Burkina Faso Humanitarian Response Plan 2021”, Financial Tracking Service, available at: https://fts.unocha.org/appeals/1037/summary; OCHA, “Mali Humanitarian Response Plan 2021”, Financial Tracking Service, available at: https://fts.unocha.org/appeals/1036/summary; OCHA, “Niger Humanitarian Response Plan 2021”, Financial Tracking Service, available at: https://fts.unocha.org/appeals/1033/summary.

192 For instance, there is no report that thoroughly documents the nature of the relationships between IDPs and host communities in any of the Sahelian countries. A survey of OCHA, Mali, above note 8; OCHA, Burkina Faso, above note 8; and OCHA, Niger, above note 8, does indicate that more attention is being paid to host communities by comparison with similar documents published in the past, but there is still room for improvement.

193 This problem applies not only to the Sahel but also to other regions. See Zoë Jordan, “Displaced in Cities: Who Are the Hosts?”, Humanitarian Law and Policy Blog, 12 February 2019, available at: https://blogs.icrc.org/law-and-policy/2019/02/12/displaced-cities-who-are-hosts/.

194 For instance, Fabrice Weissman, “L’éthique de l'action humanitaire”, in Jean-Baptiste Jeangène Vilmer and Ryoa Chung (eds), Ethique des relations internationals: Problématiques contemporaines, Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 2013, pp. 226–227, points out, quite rightly, that NGOs and UN agencies play an essential role in alerting public opinion to crises.

195 A. Davies, above note 2, p. 8.

196 Ibid., p. 7.

197 Brookings Institution and University of Bern, above note 46, pp. 24–25.

198 Failure to provide prompt and unhindered humanitarian access in accordance with the rules discussed above may constitute a grave breach of IHL – i.e., a war crime. See ICRC, above note 29, p. 49.

199 Ibid.

200 Ibid.

201 See E. Shea and M.-F. Sitnam, above note 115, p. 8.

202 See ICRC, above note 29, p. 46.

203 See the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation's Cash Transfer Programming website, available at: www.shareweb.ch/site/Cash-Transfer-Programming; Sarah Bailey and Steve Walsh, “The Use of Cash in Emergency and Post-Emergency Non-Food Item Programs – a Case Study from the Democratic Republic of the Congo”, Journal of Humanitarian Assistance, 31 May 2007, available at: https://reliefweb.int/report/democratic-republic-congo/use-cash-emergency-and-post-emergency-non-food-item-programs-case; Pantaleo Creti and Susanne Jaspars, Cash-Transfer Programming in Emergencies: A Practical Guide, Oxfam GB, Oxford, 2006, available at: https://policy-practice.oxfam.org/resources/cash-transfer-programming-in-emergencies-115356/.

204 UNHCR Burkina Faso, above note 8, p. 22.

205 Oxfam International, “We're Here for an Indefinite Period”: Prospects for Local Integration of Internally Displaced People in North Kivu, DRC, April 2017, p. 10, available at: www.oxfam.org/en/research/were-here-indefinite-period.

206 See also Angela Cotroneo and Marta Pawlak, “Community-Based Protection: The ICRC Approach”, Forced Migration Review, No. 53, 2016, available at: www.fmreview.org/community-protection/cotroneo-pawlak.

207 See A. Davies, above note 2, p. 7; Z. Jordan, above note 193. See also the summary of the conference “Impacts of Refugees and IDPs on Host Communities”, organized by the Thematic Working Group on Forced Migration of the World Bank's Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development (KNOMAD), 1–2 June 2017, available at: www.knomad.org/event/impacts-refugees-and-internally-displaced-persons-host-communities.