UN Expert Warns Urban Displacement Is a Growing Human Rights Crisis

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs), Paula Gaviria Betancur, has sounded the alarm over the rapidly escalating challenge of urban displacement, calling it "one of the most urgent human rights crises of our time." Presenting her latest report to the UN General Assembly in New York, Gaviria Betancur warned that cities — once seen as sanctuaries for displaced people — are becoming sites of exclusion, inequality, and neglect.

"Cities can offer opportunity and protection, but they can also deepen vulnerability. The human rights of displaced persons must not end where city limits begin," she said.

The Scale of Urban Displacement

According to the report, around 60 per cent of the world's 83.4 million internally displaced persons — more than 50 million people — now live in urban or peri-urban areas. Many of these individuals have fled conflict, natural disasters, or the effects of climate change, seeking safety and stability in cities.

However, instead of finding refuge, they often encounter precarious housing conditions, overcrowded informal settlements, unemployment, discrimination, and exclusion from essential services such as healthcare, education, and sanitation.

The rapid influx of displaced populations has outpaced the capacity of many municipalities. "Rapid and unregulated urban expansion has left many local governments without the tools or resources to protect the rights of those displaced," Gaviria Betancur said, stressing that local authorities often operate with limited budgets and weak legal frameworks to manage displacement effectively.

From Relief to Rights: Redefining Durable Solutions

The Special Rapporteur underscored that ending displacement should not be measured simply by physical relocation, but by the full restoration of human rights, dignity, and belonging. Durable solutions — whether return to home communities, local integration, or resettlement elsewhere — must all be considered equally valid when guided by rights-based approaches.

"Ending displacement is not just about physical relocation," she said. "It is about restoring rights, dignity, and belonging. Every person has the right to rebuild their life in safety, with their rights fully protected."

The report emphasizes that States must integrate displacement into national development plans, expand social protection programs, ensure tenure security and adequate housing, and strengthen mental health and psychosocial support systems.

Inclusion, Not Marginalization

A central message of the report is that internally displaced persons are not burdens, but valuable contributors to the economic, cultural, and social fabric of cities. "They bring skills, knowledge, and resilience," Gaviria Betancur said. "Inclusion is not only a human right — it makes societies stronger and more cohesive."

The report calls for whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches that include displaced persons in decision-making and urban planning. National authorities, municipal governments, civil society, and the private sector must collaborate to ensure that displacement policies are locally relevant and inclusive.

To achieve this, the Special Rapporteur urged governments to strengthen national legal frameworks on internal displacement and invest in local government capacity-building, ensuring that mayors and municipal planners are empowered with both resources and legal authority to respond effectively.

The Data Gap: Making the Invisible Visible

Gaviria Betancur also warned that a lack of reliable, disaggregated data continues to hinder effective policymaking. "What isn't counted, doesn't count," she said, pointing out that millions of displaced people living in cities remain absent from official statistics, effectively invisible to public policy and resource allocation.

The absence of comprehensive urban displacement data means that IDPs are often excluded from city budgets, housing programs, and social welfare systems, leaving families trapped in cycles of poverty and vulnerability.

She called for greater investment in data systems and collaboration between national statistical offices, humanitarian agencies, and local authorities to ensure that displaced populations are fully represented in demographic and development indicators.

A Human Rights Approach to Urban Governance

The Special Rapporteur's recommendations urge States and city governments to adopt a human rights-based urban agenda. This includes:

• Investing in affordable and adequate housing to prevent slum expansion.

• Ensuring security of tenure for displaced families.

• Providing universal access to essential services such as health, education, and clean water.

• Expanding social protection coverage for displaced populations, particularly women, children, and persons with disabilities.

• Strengthening mental health and psychosocial support, often overlooked in urban displacement responses.

She also encouraged collaboration between national disaster management agencies and urban planners to address displacement caused by climate change, which is expected to increase significantly in coming decades.

From Crisis to Opportunity

Despite the challenges, Gaviria Betancur expressed optimism that cities could become centres of resilience and inclusion if governments adopt proactive, rights-based policies.

"Internally displaced persons are not only survivors of crisis — they are agents of resilience and hope, rebuilding their lives against all odds," she said. "With inclusive and rights-based policies, cities can become places where displacement does not mean exclusion, but the beginning of dignity, safety, and belonging."

The Special Rapporteur's message to the international community was clear: urban displacement is a human rights issue, not merely a humanitarian or development concern. States, donors, and city leaders must act together to ensure that those displaced within their borders can live not on the margins, but as equal citizens shaping the future of their cities.