Bandana Purkayastha, Author
Internal displacements, resulting from politically instigated ethnic, religious, inter-communal and other sectarian-induced, human-made disasters, are increasing around the world.
Voices of Internally Displaced Persons in Kenya: A Human Rights Perspective, chronicles experiences of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Kenya who fled to the IDP Camps from the ethnic violence following the country’s disputed elections in December 2007. The critique emphasises the continuing vulnerabilities in the IDP camps and examines the underlying historical and contemporary social conditions that lead to human rights violations and gendered violence. The authors raise two important issues for human rights advocates. One, that the conditions in these camps, which were developed to protect IDPs from violence, do not measure up to the standards advocated by the UN Special Rapporteurs on adequate housing, food, water, education, health and on violence against women. Two, the response efforts are often fragmented and are only designed to address the conditions in the camps. The words of a displaced woman in Kenya, summarises the feelings of human indignity experienced by the IDPs: “They should know we are human. They should ask themselves, what if they were like us…” The authors suggest such monumental human crises, in Kenya and elsewhere, require more integrated, sustained, and effective responses.
