their parents’ place of origin, it is high time for governments to expand their exclusive support for return to include other durable solutions. Support of local integration and settlement elsewhere in the country will strengthen the ability of IDPs to return on a sustainable basis once political obstacles are removed if they so wish. IDPs will be more able to make a truly voluntary choice about whether to return if they are able to live a normal life now.
As protracted situations of displacement are usually characterised by a relatively stable IDP population in terms of numbers and locations, efforts should be made to regularly assess their conditions, needs and plans with regard to durable solutions other than return. The lack of basic information about IDPs seeking durable solutions other than return is a serious impediment to resolving protracted internal displacement situations in Europe.Involving IDPs would help move the search for solutions in the right direction.
Recommendations to governments:
- More actively pursue local integration and settlement elsewhere in the countries concerned.
- Establish institutional mechanisms and facilitated procedures for issuing or re-issuing essential documentation to IDPs, including by using alternative forms of evidence available to IDPs, and initiate civil registration campaigns for IDPs particularly affected by the lack of documentation.
- Ensure that social welfare systems can benefit IDPs in need of assistance with a special emphasis on housing and livelihood opportunities.
- Undertake a profiling exercise to determine the level of achievement of durable solutions and the obstacles facing the remaining IDPs living in government-provided and private accommodation in urban and rural areas.
- More consistently consult and involve IDPs in the design of policies and programmes addressing their needs and preferences for durable solutions, as well as peace processes.
Recommendations to humanitarian organisations:
- Improve the housing conditions of IDPs in collective centres and makeshift housing in rural and urban areas.
- Provide assistance to ensure that displaced children face no financial barriers to attending school.
- Monitor the achievement of durable solutions for IDPs who have returned, integrated locally or settled elsewhere in the country.
- Advocate for the establishment of reconciliation mechanisms.
- Support the capacity of national human rights institutions to encourage governments to address the limited access of IDPs to their rights.
Nadine Walicki (firstname.lastname@example.org) is Country Analyst for the Caucasus and Central Asia at the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (http://www.internal-displacement.org).
See Protracted Internal Displacement in Europe: Current Trends and Ways Forward, at http://www.internal-displacement.org/europe.
 See article by Erin Mooney and Naveed Hussain 'Unfinished business: IDPs in Bosnia and Herzegovina'