Living in Limbo

Throughout Europe, millions of people remain displaced from conflicts in the Balkans, Caucasus and elsewhere. Even where peace treaties or ceasefires have brought an end to open warfare or where conflicts remain frozen, these populations remain in limbo, in many cases for a decade or longer. The international system has, over time, developed approaches to respond to emergency assistance and increasingly enhanced its capacity to invest in post-conflict reconstruction. But, the issue of long term displacement fits uneasily within existing paradigms of war-to-peace transition and strains the capabilities of humanitarian agencies while representing new and difficult territory for development assistance. Living in Limbo analyzes the multi-faceted nature of impoverishment and vulnerability which emerges from long periods of conflict-induced displacement. It reviews the situation of displaced in the context of a wide range of measures of vulnerability including material well being, employment, shelter, human and social capital and concludes that significant vulnerability remains even after many years of displacement. Furthermore, it provides a detailed treatment of the special characteristics and causes of displacement induced vulnerability and offers a range of recommendations to development practitioners on operational approaches to take account of displaced populations in the context of poverty reduction strategies in affected countries. While any research on conflict-induced displacement is likely to find wide gaps in knowledge, this study perhaps represents the most comprehensive review of displacement within the European region to date. In addition to a range of interviews and field work, the study draws upon over 90 major surveys and poverty assessments and 300 field reports on displaced populations in 13 countries in Europe and Central Asia.