Forced Displacement of Persons with Disabilities

International law recognizes refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) as populations that are particularly vulnerable to human rights abuses, persecution and violence.  Refugees with disabilities, however, face additional threats in conflict and humanitarian settings.  It is often more difficult for persons with disabilities to flee dangerous environments due to mobility issues, which means many people are left behind and must remain in conflict affected regions.  Persons with disabilities may also be specifically targeted for human rights violations, either within conflict settings or during flight.  Lastly, conflict situations tend to increase the number of persons with primary or secondary disabilities as a result of landmines, torture, violence and psychological trauma, increasing the need for humanitarian assistance.

Refugees and IDPs with disabilities who do manage to reach refugee camps often face barriers to accessing life-saving services and critical assistance programmes.  Although there is significant need among refugees with disabilities for health (both psychosocial and physical), education, employment, and access to justice services, too often such services remain out of reach for persons with disabilities.  If humanitarian programmes are not inclusive of refugees with disabilities, they are failing one of the most marginalized and vulnerable populations.

Humanitarian programming can be inaccessible in a variety of ways.  First, persons with disabilities may not be able to physically access food distribution, health or education services.  Relatedly, information and outreach efforts may not be accessible or targeted toward refugees with disabilities.  For example, refugee children with disabilities are denied the right to education when schools in refugee centres are inaccessible, do not provide accommodations, and/or do not actively seek to include children with disabilities. Part of the problem is that many humanitarian initiatives are not designed with refugees with disabilities in mind.  Without planning for disability inclusion in every stage of programme implementation, refugees with disabilities will not be able to fully benefit from life-saving services. 

Some humanitarian and international organizations are starting to address these shortcomings in refugee assistance.  Including refugees with disabilities and disabled people’s organizations in programme design and implementation can be an effective way of ensuring that programmes meet the needs of all refugees. While disability mainstreaming in humanitarian assistance is a worthy goal, disability-focused interventions can help to address immediate needs of women, men and children refugees with disabilities in a more targeted way.  Thus humanitarian organizations should aim to both mainstream disability into all programming and policies and provide direct assistance to refugees with disabilities. Lastly, training can help to raise awareness among humanitarian agencies and staff on how to make humanitarian work truly inclusive of persons with disabilities.  By integrating disability into humanitarian efforts, humanitarian organizations can better protect human rights, maximize benefits and expand reach to the most vulnerable populations.

To read more about One Billion Strong’s work with refugees in Uganda, please visit our website: http://www.one-billion-strong.org/site/315/What-We-Do/Refugees-and-Internally-Displaced-Persons/Refugee-Projects

Refugee children with disabilities in Uganda receiving support through UNHCR/One Billion Strong Program