United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Practice Relating to Rule 129. The Act of Displacement
The UK Military Manual (1958) provides: “In no circumstances may a protected person be transferred to a State where he has reason to fear persecution on account of his political opinions or religious beliefs.”
The manual further states:
The Occupant is forbidden, regardless of motive, to carry out individual or mass forcible transfers or deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to his own territory or to that of any other country.
According to the manual, “unlawful deportation is a grave breach of the Convention”.
The UK LOAC Manual (2004) states in its chapter on occupied territory:
The occupying power is forbidden to transfer forcibly or deport protected persons from an occupied country either to its own territory or to that of any other state … Unlawful deportation or transfer is a grave breach of the [1949 Geneva Convention IV].
In its chapter on internal armed conflict, the manual states: “It is prohibited to order the displacement of the civilian population for reasons related to the conflict, unless the security of the civilians involved or imperative military reasons so demand.”
In its chapter on enforcement of the law of armed conflict, the manual notes:
Grave breaches under the Geneva Conventions consist of any of the following acts against persons or property protected under the provisions of the relevant convention:
g. unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement.
The manual further notes:
Additional Protocol I extends the definition of grave breaches to include the following:
c. the following, when committed wilfully and in violation of the Conventions or the protocol:
(1) … the deportation or transfer of all or parts of the population of the occupied territory within or outside this territory.
The UK Geneva Conventions Act (1957), as amended in 1995, punishes:
any person, whatever his nationality, who, whether in or outside the United Kingdom, commits, or aids, abets or procures the commission by any other person of, a grave breach of any of the [1949 Geneva] conventions or of [the 1977 Additional Protocol I].
Under the UK ICC Act (2001), it is a punishable offence to commit genocide as defined in Article 6(e) of the 1998 ICC Statute, a crime against humanity as defined in Article 7(1)(d) of the Statute, and a war crime as defined in Article 8(2)(a)(vii), (b)(viii) and (e)(viii) of the Statute.
In 1992 and 1993, during debates in the UN Security Council, the United Kingdom condemned the forced displacements in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the former Yugoslavia.
In 2003, in a written reply to a question in the House of Commons, the UK Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, stated:
The Government believe that the deportation by the state of Israel of persons against whom no charges have been laid may be inconsistent with the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention, including Article 147.
The UK Government Strategy on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict (2010) states: “The forcible displacement of the civilian population is … prohibited unless required for the security of the population or imperative military reasons.”
In 2010, in a written answer to a question in the House of Lords concerning Israel, a UK Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, stated: “The forcible transfer of people out of the OPTs [Occupied Palestinian Territories] for political reasons is illegal and in contravention of the provisions on deportation of civilians in Article 49 of the  Fourth Geneva Convention.”
The UK Military Manual (1958) provides:
The Occupant … is permitted to undertake total or partial evacuation of a given area, but only if the security of the population or imperative military reasons so require. Except when any other course is materially impossible, such evacuation must not involve the transfer of protected persons outside the limits of occupied territory.
The UK LOAC Pamphlet (1981) provides:
A local cease-fire may be arranged for the removal from besieged or encircled areas of the wounded and sick, … old persons and maternity cases. Evacuations can also be ordered for military reasons or for the security of the population.
The UK LOAC Manual (2004) states in its chapter on occupied territory:
11.55. The occupying power is forbidden to transfer forcibly or deport protected persons from an occupied country either to its own territory or to that of any other state … An area may be totally or partially evacuated by the occupying power if:
a. such evacuation is required either for the security of the population or for reasons of imperative military necessity; and
b. protected persons are not moved outside occupied territory, unless there is no alternative; and
c. the evacuees are returned to their homes as soon as hostilities in the area have ceased; and
d. to the greatest extent practicable:
(1) proper accommodation is provided, and
(2) movement takes place under satisfactory conditions of hygiene, health, safety and nutrition, and
(3) members of the same family are not separated; and
e. the protecting power is informed of transfers and evacuations as soon as they have taken place.
11.55.1. Unlawful deportation or transfer is a grave breach of the [1949 Fourth Geneva] Convention.
In its chapter on internal armed conflict, the manual states:
15.14. It is prohibited to order the displacement of the civilian population for reasons related to the conflict, unless the security of the civilians involved or imperative military reasons so demand.
5.14.1. It may be necessary to evacuate civilians temporarily from areas of danger, from encircled areas or for the better conduct of military operations. It is prohibited to move them for reasons based on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth or any similar criteria or in order to shield military targets from attack.
Under the UK ICC Act (2001), it is a punishable offence to commit a war crime as defined in Article 8(2)(e)(viii) of the 1998 ICC Statute.
The UK LOAC Manual (2004) states in its chapter on internal armed conflict:
Recent armed conflicts have been blighted by the use of “human shields” to protect military installations from attack and by the practice known as “ethnic cleansing” when people of a certain racial origin or religious beliefs have been murdered or expelled from their homes, which have been destroyed. These practices violate the basic law of armed conflict principles of targeting, discrimination and humane treatment of those hors de combat as well as the basic human rights law principles of non-discrimination on racial or ethnic grounds and in freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. They are likely to be war crimes. Depending on the circumstances, these practices may also amount to crimes against humanity or even genocide.
In 1992, during a debate in the UN General Assembly, the United Kingdom declared that “ethnic cleansing” in the former Yugoslavia was “inhuman and illegal”. It added: “We reject as inhuman and illegal any expulsion of civilian communities from their homes in order to alter the ethnic character of the area.”
In 1994, during a debate in the UN Security Council on the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the United Kingdom stated that it was undeniable that “the abhorrent practice of ‘ethnic cleansing’ … is a crime, and a most grievous one”.