Internal displacement continues to be a topical and controversial subject. Over the last few years, there have been many discussions and studies attempting to set down a clearer picture of the situation and rights of internally displaced persons. This is no easy task because of the very complexity of the subject whose many variations militate against a single model. Newcomers to this area are often misled by their first impression of the situation of internally displaced persons which leads them to conclude that these people are essentially in the same material circumstances as refugees and should therefore benefit from the same regime of international protection. Internal displacement does not lend itself to such a simple solution. However similar their plight may be, refugees and internally displaced persons fall within two different legal concepts. It follows from this that a human rights framework of analysis must be used with regard to internally displaced persons.