While the above stresses two important elements of internal displacement (coercion and the domestic/internal movement), rather than a strict definition the Guiding Principles offer "a descriptive identification of the category of persons whose needs are the concern of the Guiding Principles".KALIN, G. "Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. Annotations." The American Society of International Law & The Brookings Institution Project on Internal Displacement. Studies in Transnational Legal Policy, No. 32, 2000. In this way, the document "intentionally steers toward flexibility rather than legal precision"VINCENT, M, "IDPs: rights and status", Forced Migration Review, August 2000, p. 30. as the words "in particular" indicate that the list of reasons for displacement is not exhaustive. However, as Erin Mooney has pointed out, "global statistics on internal displacement generally count only IDPs uprooted by conflict and human rights violations. Moreover, a recent study has recommended that the IDP concept should be defined even more narrowly, to be limited to persons displaced by violence."MOONEY, E. "The Concept of Internal Displacement and the Case for Internally Displaced Persons as a Category of Concern." Refugee Survey Quarterly. (24) 3, 2005, p. 12. This outlook has become outdated, however, as natural disasters and slow-onset climate degradation have become the primary driving force behind internal displacement in recent years, although conflict remains the primary reason for pre-existing IDPs overall. IMDC (2022) "Global Report on Internal Displacement 2022." Geneva: Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, Norwegian Refugee Council. P. 12 Climate displaced IDPs are therefore being given more attention overall through being recorded in statistics. Thus, despite the non-exhaustive reasons for internal displacement, many consider IDPs as those who would be defined as refugees if they were to cross an international border, hence, the term refugees in all but the name is often applied to IDPs.
