Nadine Walicki , Wesli Turner , Sarah Adamczyk , Iuliia Tralo
The registration of internally displaced people (IDPs) can serve some useful functions. They include determining their number, location, demographic characteristics and protection concerns, preventing fraudulent access to limited assistance and facilitating the provision of temporary documents in place of missing identity cards. That said, registration is not necessarily required for such purposes and, as the case of Ukraine shows, neither is it a perfect tool.
Limitations in terms of the definition of an IDP applied in Ukraine mean that many displaced people are ineligible for registration, and some others who are eligible face obstacles in completing the process. The result is that a significant number of IDPs are unable to access government assistance, and registered IDPs are the only ones counted or discussed for humanitarian purposes.
Envisaged amendments to the laws and procedures that govern registration will not bring the process entirely in line the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, and as such they will not fully address its shortcomings. Alternative methods of collecting data are required to improve the protection and assistance needs of all IDPs.