Over the spring and summer of 2002, Afghanistan received a reported 1.8 million refugees returning from Pakistan and Iran. This was perceived by many Western governments, anxious to return their own Afghan refugee populations, as a massive vote of confidence…
Three ethical perspectives Three broad theoretical perspectives can be used to test the justification of development-induced displacement. Their respective central values are the public interest, self-determination and equality. The public-interest perspective is given concrete expression by cost-benefit analysis. The criterion…
Resettlement guidelines formulated by funders, governments and international treaties have achieved only limited success in reversing these negative consequences. Not all private sector funders or governments respect guidelines. Neither international law nor national legal systems make adequate provision for ‘development…
The displacement process is guided by China’s ‘developmental resettlement’ policy that aims to maintain or enhance the living standards of resettlers. Implementing this policy on such a massive scale is an increasingly difficult challenge for the Chinese government. Given the…
In 1990 the World Bank set out a landmark involuntary resettlement policy that has subsequently been emulated and cross-referenced. In Since 1998 the Bank has asked NGOs, government agencies and other interested parties to provide external feedback on a series…
Extensive research findings presented by the World Commission on Dams have shown that between 40 and 80 million people have been forced to leave their homes as a result of the construction of large hydroelectric dams alone. In 1994 the…
As the previous article has indicated, tThe success of the IDP advocacy community has had considerable success in raising the profile of IDPs and in advancing institutional attention to internal displacement. The focus, however, has been almost entirely on conflict-related…
Some have been displaced repeatedly. Changes in the position of the forward defence lines continue to displace families in large numbers. Many thousands have left the island altogether. About 200,000 IDPs live in government welfare centres; the rest have been…
Each year, an unknown number of people are ‘smuggled’ or ’trafficked’ across international borders. Smuggled migrants are moved illegally for profit: they are partners, however unequal, in a commercial transaction. All going well, their relationship with the smuggler ends at…
Statistics on mine fatalities or infant and maternal mortality dominate opening paragraphs. This is all for the good. The world should indeed know what has been going on in Angola for the last thirty years. However, it is possible amidst…