ABSTRACT
As of early 2002, Europe had a population of at least 3.3 million internally displaced people (IDPs). The crisis of internal displacement affected 11 of the 45 countries of the Council of Europe (including the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which has only a Special Guest status). The internally displaced population remains larger than the continent's refugee population, which, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), comprised 2.7 million persons in January 2002.
