Displacement Disaster

The displacement of 1.7 million people in northern Uganda has been the single most disastrous consequence of two decades of war between the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and the Ugandan government. While living in squalid camps northern Ugandans have been subjected to LRA attacks, abuses by the Ugandan military, poverty, political marginalization and a healthcare crisis. Since peace talks began between the two parties in July 2006 security has dramatically improved and many of the displaced have begun to return home, though patterns of return vary widely across regions. The legacy (and ongoing reality) of displacement remains the most powerful argument in support of a peaceful resolution to the conflict and freedom of movement and return for all civilians.

Displacement of people from their homes, voluntary and involuntary, has occurred in northern Uganda since fighting between northern rebels and Ugandan government began in 1986. 1996 marked the beginning of widespread and systematic displacement, which evolved from a government strategy to better protect civilians and more effectively combat the LRA by forcing northerners into "protected villages" while it pursued a “military solution” against the rebels. However, the strategy backfired, instead allowing the LRA to regularly terrorize the dense camps. As recently as 2006 over 80% of northern Ugandans were displaced without access to adequate food, healthcare and education. Despite twenty years of failure (and ongoing peace talks), recent rhetoric from the Ugandan and US governments has threatened a revival of the military option. Fear of resumed conflict continues to prevent many displaced persons from returning home. Click here to read more about the failure of displacement camps and military solutions to protect northern Ugandans from the LRA.

Displacement has also exposed northerners to human rights abuses at the hands of the Ugandan military, extreme poverty and political marginalization. Victims of military abuses have rarely seen justice, in part because the fog of war has allowed the Ugandan military to assume many civilian policing and judicial duties. Displacement, long enforced by strict restrictions on movement, also has led to a breakdown of livelihoods and infringement of political rights. It has also deepened historical divisions within Uganda, and many northerners believe strongly that forced displacement was intended by the Ugandan government as a tool to marginalize the entire region. Click here to read more about this history of displacement and how political empowerment, development and sustained investment in civilian institutions is needed for long-term reconciliation and recovery.

The most deadly component of the crisis in northern Uganda has been neither violent LRA attacks nor abuses by government security forces. In fact, unclean water, poor sanitation, rampant infectious diseases and a woefully inadequate healthcare infrastructure have taken the heaviest toll on northern Ugandans. A 2005 report revealed that nearly 1,000 people died each week from violence and poor conditions in camps in which women and children comprise 80% of the population. The Ugandan government has failed to muster the resources and political will necessary to fill the healthcare gaps, and interventions from relief agencies are only able to mitigate the problem. Click here to read more about the healthcare crisis in northern Uganda and how the process of going home will offer new opportunities – and challenges – to address it.

Also, click here to read about the displacement of tens of thousands of northern Ugandans as a result of Karamojong cattle raiding.