Attachments
Background
In situations of peace and armed conflict, the State is responsible for the safety of its citizens and those within its territory; it is therefore their primary responsibility to conduct relocations/evacuations if necessary.
Humanitarian actors, however, in cooperation with States, have exceptionally resorted to emergency evacuations or relocations in extreme circumstances, when there was no other way to provide urgent assistance or protection to respond to severe threats to life and security.
In the context of Yemen, relocations of IDPs from IDP sites to other areas is increasingly observed. Reasons for relocations vary. They are mainly due to:
a) expiry of verbal/written occupancy agreements from state (public) or privately owned land;
b) when the landowner wants the land back for their own personal or investment purposes; and
c) for reasons of safety and security reasons: moving IDPs further away from the frontlines.
In such contexts, the humanitarian community endeavours to understand the perspective of all parties to determine the nature of any potential relocation, including the involvement and voluntariness of affected people.
The purpose of the Framework for Voluntary Relocation of IDPs Elsewhere in the Country is to set out the minimum standards that will guide the engagement of humanitarian actors in relocations in line with humanitarian standards, International Human Rights and Humantiaran Law. The framework also includes Cluster Relocation Support Packages that will be implemented through each phase of the relocation process when the minimum standards are met.
You can find the Voluntary Relocations package here