Identification in the Context of Forced Displacement : Identification for Development
Lack of identity documents is an important obstacle to the protection of people forced to leave their homes by conflict, persecution, or natural disaster. At the most basic level, a person lacking identity documents cannot travel through the legal...
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| Format: | Report |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2016
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/07/26611857/identification-context-forced-displacement-identification-development-id4d http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24941 |
| Summary: | Lack of identity documents is an
important obstacle to the protection of people forced to
leave their homes by conflict, persecution, or natural
disaster. At the most basic level, a person lacking identity
documents cannot travel through the legal channels. Lack of
identification can make people more vulnerable to
trafficking, for example by making it more difficult to
prove a person’s age or family relationships. Those who lack
identity documents may face greater difficulties proving
their entitlement to nationality or to refugee status. The
absence of fair and effective processes for registration and
identification places displaced persons at the risk of
exploitation and exclusion. Access to essential public
services will be limited. Children are at risk of becoming
stateless because of difficulties in accessing birth
registration and because the rules and practices in place
may prevent them from acquiring the nationality either of
(one of) their parents or of the country of birth. Poorly
implemented identification systems may even put displaced
people at greater risk. If registration and identification
procedures are not properly carried out, people who qualify
to be recognized as refugees or stateless. Persons, or as
nationals, may be subject to immigration detention and
deportation to a country where they are in danger, or to
illegal exploitation where they are. Weak identification
systems can make it difficult for displaced persons and
their children to reunite, to repatriate after crises have
ended, and to reclaim land and property that they left
behind. Robust identification and registration systems for
displaced people also mitigate the disruptive impacts of
rapid influxes of refugees for governments, and assist
planning to respond to the needs of the displaced populations. |
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