ВНУТРІШНЬО ПЕРЕМІЩЕНІ ОСОБИ ЯК КАТЕГОРІЯ ВИМУШЕНИХ МІГРАНТІВ: ПОНЯТТЯ ТА ОЗНАКИ

Abstract

The relevance of this scientific work is due to the emergence in Ukraine of the category of forced migrants – internally displaced persons (IDPs). Due to the military aggression of Russia against Ukraine since 2014, the annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, and the anti-terrorist operation in the Donbass, more than 1 million people of Ukraine were forced to leave their homes, saving their own lives. And the IDPs themselves quickly became the object of scientific research by Ukrainian scientists, since Ukraine had not yet faced a similar problem, and the displaced persons themselves needed protection, ensuring rights and freedoms and solving their pressing priority problems. For this, it is necessary to create a regulatory framework and clearly define this category of forced migrants. The aim of the work is to analyze interpretations of the concept of “internally displaced persons”, creating an author’s definition of this concept. The author classifies forced migrants, among whom are distinguished forced external (international) migrants (refugees and asylum seekers) and forced internal migrants (internally displaced persons). Among the reasons that determine forced migration are highlighted: political, environmental (natural disasters, environmental changes, man-made disasters), the introduction of projects for socio-economic development. Based on the analysis of existing definitions of the concept of “internally displaced persons”, the author presents his own definition of this category. According to the author’s definition, internally displaced persons are persons or groups of people who are citizens of Ukraine or citizens of other states who are legally in Ukraine who are forced to leave their places of permanent residence as a result of the complication of the political, socio-economic, and environmental situation in a certain administrative-territorial unit of the state in order to avoid manifestations of violence, violation of human rights, consequences of natural or man-made disasters, environmental changes, projects of socio-economic development for the sake of preserving life and freedom, and did not cross internationally recognized state borders.