situation of minorities as internally displaced persons. in humanitarian crises and offers perspectives based on the experience of the UN Human Rights Council mandate on the human rights of internally find placed persons during the six years that I was honored and privileged to lead that mandate.  The mandate plays a catalytic role in the protection and assistance offered to internally displaced persons in the framework of a specialized regime of international human rights law, international humanitarian law, and the analogical application of international refugee law, all anchored in the 1998 Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement and the 2009 African Union (Kampala) Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa.  Like the protection of minorities, the protection of internally displaced persons is a specialized regime that is sensitive to the displacement of minorities. Both the Guiding Principles (GP.9) and the Kampala Convention (Art. 4(5)) prohibit the displacement of minorities, including nomadic groups and communities with a special dependency on land. This is to protect the identity, way of life, and the special attachment of minorities who are particularly vulnerable to internal displacement due to their characteristics and geographical location.  In addition, arbitrary displacement based for example on ethnic cleansing and racial discrimination is prohibited. These prohibitions have to be understood as important components of the protection of minorities in light of their vulnerability in comparison to majority communities. Persons belonging to minorities that I met in situations of displacement were often among the poorest, and may experienced different forms of marginalization prior to displacement, with their vulnerability exacerbated during displacement. They also mostly lacked representation in political or other State bodies. In Kosovo, where at least there are ten MPs belonging to Serb minorities, government policy on internally displaced Serbs is being influenced by them.