THE RIGHT NOT TO BE ARBITRARILY DISPLACED IN AFRICA ROMOLA ADEOLA ∗ and FRANS VILJOEN ∗∗ I. INTRODUCTION In 2009, African Union (AU) Heads of States and Government adopted the first binding international treaty on internal displacement, the AU Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP Convention). 1 On 6 December 2012, the IDP Convention entered into force. 2 The IDP Convention explicitly recognises the right of persons not to be arbitrarily displaced and recognises certain root causes of internal displacement such as: armed conflict, natural disaster (including climate change) and development projects. However, the IDP Convention does not elaborate on the content of the right specifically with regard to what states are required to do to protect displaced persons when the root causes of internal displacements are triggered. With reference to international human rights sources, this article examines the normative content of the right not to be arbitrarily displaced in relation to three main root causes of internal displacement in Africa. In advancing this discussion, the first part provides a historical overview on the right not to be arbitrarily displaced in international law. The second part examines the formation of the IDP Convention and the main root causes of internal displacement in Africa. In the third part, the concept in relation to the various root causes of internal displacement in the IDP Convention is examined. Finally, this article considers the role of states, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Commission) and the Conference of State Parties in advancing the right not to be arbitrarily displaced. ∗ Postdoctoral Fellow, Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria. ∗∗ Director and Professor of International Human Rights Law, Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria. 1 African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa, adopted by the African Union Heads of Government (Uganda, October 2009). 2 F. Viljoen, International Human Rights Law in Africa (Oxford University Press, 2012) 247–249. African Journal of International and Comparative Law 25.4 (2017): 459–481 Edinburgh University Press DOI: 10.3366/ajicl.2017.0207 © Edinburgh University Press www.euppublishing.com/ajicl 459