The Most Vulnerable of the Vulnerable: Horizontal Inequalities Between Refugees and IDPs
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Keywords: Political Geography, Spatial Analysis, GIS, Displacement, Migration, Humanitarian Emergencies, Population Geography
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract
Authors:
Anne Della Guardia, London School of Economics & Political Science
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Abstract
The forced displacement literature has often treated different displaced groups like refugees and IDPs as a homogenous group. However, the author argues that these groups should be treated as distinct and tests the hypothesis that horizontal inequalities (i.e. inequalities in economic, political, or social dimensions or cultural status between culturally defined groups (Stewart, 2002)) exist between refugees and IDPs. It employs spatial analysis and observational data from humanitarian organizations and operationalizes the inequalities among these groups in terms of access to basic social services and infrastructure. If these horizontal inequalities are indeed present, it then follows that we should find more infrastructure and greater access to social services in areas where refugees have settled than in areas where only IDPs are found. The author argues that the additional vulnerabilities that IDPs face in relation to refugees is due to shortcomings of humanitarian legal instruments and the resulting uneven humanitarian response as well as the limited capacity (or will) in states that face acute conflict-driven displacement involving large population movements.
The Most Vulnerable of the Vulnerable: Horizontal Inequalities Between Refugees and IDPs
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Paper Abstract