During periods of armed conflict or strife places are set aside where people who are not involved in the fighting may find a degree of refuge. Such places have at times been referred to as safe zones; however, this is not a technical term. Comparable terms include safe havens, safe areas, corridors of tranquility, humanitarian corridors, neutral zones, protected areas, secure humanitarian areas, security corridors, and security zones.

Treaty-Based Safe Zones

Some treaties allow countries to establish specific types of safe zones. For example, the 1949 Geneva Conventions provide for the establishment of hospitals and safe zones or localities to protect the wounded, the sick, the elderly, children, and pregnant women from the effects of war (First Geneva Convention, Article 23; Fourth Geneva Convention, Article 14).

Under the Fourth Geneva...