Algeria: national reconciliation fails to address needs of IDPs

Although Algeria has been affected by large-scale internal displacement caused by the internal conflict that has ravaged the country since the early 1990s, very little information is available on the current situation of the displaced and their numbers. While security has steadily improved in the past few years, potential obstacles to finding durable solutions for IDPs seem to persist with access to livelihoods remaining the major concern. There have been some reports of families displaced by the conflict returning home, but there is no information on the whether IDPs are integrating in their areas of displacement or on their voluntary resettlement.

Overall, both national and international responses have focused on national reconciliation and the development and regeneration of rural areas rather than on the specific situation of internal displacement. Since 2001, the Algerian government has invested heavily in housing, infrastructure and public services however there are no reports of the particular needs and rights of IDPs which could have helped shape these regeneration and development programmes.

This document takes a look some of the following areas: 

• the background to the internal conflict and causes of displacement 
  
• population figures and profile 
  
• physical security and freedom of movement
  
• subsistence needs and precarious living conditions 
  
• access to education 
  
• patterns of return and resettlement 
  
• humanitarian access, national and international responses

The document provides detailed area-by-area analysis. A summary in French is also included.