37 4. ‘People out of place’: Developing a human rights research agenda on internally displaced persons Champa Patel Introduction With new and, increasingly, protracted crises, the world is witnessing unprec- edented levels of displacement. A sub-set of this affected group are inter- nally displaced persons (IDPs). In 2019, there were 33.4 million people newly affected by internal displacement associated with conflict and disas- ters. Conflict-related displacement comprised 8.5 million with Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Ethiopia making up more than half of the global figure. In 2019, 24.9 million new internal displacements were caused by disasters with India, China, Bangladesh, the Philippines and the United States (US) most affected. Another key trend was displacement in complex emergencies (the nexus of conflict and disasters) which particularly affected DRC, Yemen, South Sudan and Somalia. 1 Recognition of internal displacement gained greater prominence in the 1990s, in part due to the growing number of conflicts causing internal displacement after the end of the Cold War. Unlike refugees, who have crossed an interna- tional border, there was a prevailing sense that the needs of IDPs were primar- ily the concern of the respective state. However, ‘Operation Provide Comfort’, the US operation which created a safe zone for IDPs in Iraq during the end of the Gulf War in 1991, gave some impetus that there could be a space for international interventions in internal emergencies. 2 As it stands there is no international treaty on IDPs and no single agreed definition on IDPs. Under the leadership of Francis Deng, the then special