Newsletter - July 2010

Internally Displaced Persons

The Department of International Law was invited to participate in the Sixth Annual Course on the Law of Internal Displacement, which was held in San Remo, Italy, June 7-12, 2010. The course’s objective was to provide information for familiarization with the problem of internal displacement, and the law applicable to persons in that situation.

The course was organized by the International Institute of International Humanitarian Law, in cooperation with the representative of the United Nations Secretary General on the human rights of internally displaced persons, the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, and other entities that supported the event.

Participants in the course were public officials and other key persons working actively in the area of internal displacement in various parts of the world.

The classes were taught by Walter Kaelin, who is the representative of the United Nations Secretary General on the human rights of internally displaced persons, and other authorities on the subject.

During the course the Department of International Law made a presentation on OAS work in this area, analyzing the content and function of the various OAS General Assembly resolutions on internally displaced persons. The department’s presentation also described other initiatives underway in the Organization concerning protection and assistance to internally displaced persons.

The department’s presence in this forum helped participants better understand the work undertaken by the OAS and the importance that it attaches to internally displaced persons. Moreover, the course provided an opportunity to be brought up to date on the latest developments in this field, which will make it possible to provide better legal counsel to the Organization’s policy organs on matters concerning internally displaced persons.

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