Ruptured Lives: Harms, Loss, and Grievances

Abstract

Though there is a growing recognition that refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) have a major stake in the success of transitional justice processes and despite growing calls for a more adequate and nuanced understanding of displacement and its impact on peacebuilding, it is one that has simply not figured prominently in either the literature or the practice of transitional justice. As argued by Megan Bradley (2012), Northern Ireland’s peacebuilding process represents yet another case whereby displaced persons have not been recognised as an important category of victims and survivors, nor have their experiences been acknowledged. There remains an all-pervasive assumption that once re-settled, the sense of injustice, loss and vulnerability among displaced persons has been largely addressed and therefore warrants no further action or consideration. By exploring the marginalised narratives of those displaced, this chapter sheds light on the multi-layered short and long-term harms and consequences of displacement for individuals, families and community relations. By doing so, the chapter maps issues of legacy, harm, and victimhood onto the experiences of forced displacement during the conflict. In considering the narratives of those displaced, we suggest a strong need to broaden understandings of conflict related violence in Northern Ireland to include displacement and its long-term impact on individuals and communities as part of our on-going peacebuilding endeavours.