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31 December 2012
Most of the people internally displaced as a result of the conflict between the government and the Shinning Path and Túpac Amaru revolutionary groups at the height of the conflict during the 1990s have returned to their place of origin or settled elsewhere in the country.
In 2007 the government estimated that 150,000 people were still internally displaced, mostly in urban centres including Lima, Ayacucho, Junín, Ica and Huánuco. As of the end of 2012, there was no data evaluating their situation or comparing it with that of the general population.
A law on internal displacement passed in 2004 was an important step towards protecting and assisting the remaining IDPs. It incorporated the Guiding Principles and assigned responsibility for coordination of the response to the Ministry of Women and Social Development (now the Ministry for Women and Vulnerable Populations).
In order for IDPs to qualify for individual and collective reparations alongside other victims of conflict, they must register on Peru’s Unique Registry of Victims, which was set up in 2007. More than 157,000 people had registered by the end of 2012, but no disaggregated information was available to show how many were IDPs.
Individual reparations are due to begin in 2013, but collective reparations for IDPs who have not returned to their places of origin have already been postponed several times. A final draft of guidelines for the implementation of collective reparations was to be discussed at the end of December 2012.
The government is reportedly not addressing the needs of IDPs at the same level of priority as other victims, especially those who have suffered physical harm. This has been observed both in terms of assistance programmes and the comprehensive reparations plan.
Violence associated with the cultivation and export of coca and cocaine posed an ongoing threat of displacement in 2012.
200,000 Peruvians displaced in worst flooding for 30 years
Continuous heavy rains during the first half of 2012 have led to widespread flooding in Loreto, Peru, displacing approximately
208,000 people.
An estimated 52,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed and, as of April, 15,000 people were still being sheltered in tents, schools and other public
facilities. Nationwide, the floods have affected some 650,000
Peruvians.
As of 6 June, the Peruvian government
extended the state of emergency for 60 days. This will allow for resources to be mobilised more quickly while increasing coordination between government agencies.
Local authorities, in coordination with the disaster response system (defensa civil), have
made available a large piece of land in the vicinity. It will be used to permanently relocate families that have been displaced by the water, and whose return would put them at risk of future displacement.
See also: IDMC Natural disasters page