Twenty-five million people around the world have been forced to leave their homes as a result of conflict or natural disasters. Yet as a result of a legal quirk, these individuals -- unlike the 13 million others whose flight takes them across international boundaries -- have no special status and enjoy no legal rights. That injustice must be remedied.
A refugee by definition is someone forced from his or her home. According to international law, however, a refugee is someone who has been forced from his or her homeland. The distinction is critical. An individual who has not crossed a border has no protection under international law; he is instead an "internally displaced person."
More and more people are falling into that category -- and through the cracks. The number of "internally displaced persons" -- a phrase described as "odious" by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke -- grew by almost 25 percent last year. During 1999, the number of countries with 500,000 or more such refugees swelled from 12 to 18.