Development projects displace over ten million people annually – a startling statistic with severe consequences for the affected populations. Why have resettlement guidelines, drawn-up by global institutions, had such limited success in averting these catastrophic effects? Why do resettlement projects fail? Research by the Refugee Studies Centre focuses on two crucial problems: the unintended transformation of policy in the process of administration and implementation; and the dual role of the state as both agent of resettlement and protector of citizens’ rights.
Resettlement guidelines formulated by international funders and treaties, have achieved only limited success. Many private sector funders and governments simply do not adhere to the guidelines. The studies included reviews of academic and NGO literature and surveys of official national and international literature. Interviews with key informants in Canada, India, Uganda and Switzerland helped contextualise official frameworks.
Research findings included:
- Policy is significantly transformed in the process of implementation.
- Policy outcomes reflect problems inherent in the institutional process of resettlement and rehabilitation.
- International Refugee Law 'Guiding Principles' concerning internally displaced persons have only limited application to development-induced resettlement.
- The same government is responsible for both eviction and protection of displaced populations, implying a fundamental problem in upholding their rights.
- Provisions for upholding the rights of development displacees include: international human rights treaties; World Bank resettlement guidelines and Inspection Panel; EC co-operation agreements linking aid to human rights.
At the national level, policy reform requires:
- Greater clarity and realism in the formulation of policy goals.
- Development and enforcement of a coherent and shared policy framework that stipulates resettlement to be undertaken as development, and that addresses issues of human rights, sustainable development goals, and elimination of poverty.
- Clarification of the role and obligations of the private sector.
At the international level, the promotion of the rights of development displacees requires:
- Accessible mechanisms, allowing for the lodging, and following up, of individual complaints.
- Support for the European Parliament’s proposal for international fora and funders to co-ordinate establishing internationally accepted and sanctioned mechanisms for monitoring development projects.
- Donor support for NGOs working for the rights of development displaced people.
Source(s):
‘Tensions between the Refugee Concept and the IDP Debate’, in Forced
Migration Review (3), Refugee Studies Centre/Global IDP Survey, University of
Oxford by Michael Barutciski (1998)
‘Reconstructing Settlement’ by Chris de Wet, in M. M. Cernea and C
McDowell (eds), Reconstructing Livelihoods, Theory and Practice: Resettlers’
and Refugees’ Experiences, The World Bank, Washington (in press)
Funded by:
DFID (ESCOR) 1998-1999
id21 Research Highlight: 18 January 2001
Further Information:
David Turton
Refugee Studies Centre
Queen Elizabeth House
University of Oxford
21 St. Giles
Oxford OX1 3LA
UK
Tel:
+44 (0)1865 270 722
Fax:
+44 (0)1865 270 721
Contact the contributor: margaret.hauser@qeh.ox.ac.uk
Queen Elizabeth House (QEH), UK
Other related links:
Read the Global IDP report on Internally Displaced Persons Worldwide
More update news and publications from the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees
The International Organisation for Migration has further related
publications
More Migration Policy research from Migration News
Read the latest reports from Refugees International
Refworld contains a collection of full-text databases representing refugee
information resource available
ICRC has its own pages relating to refugees and displaced persons with
relevant publications and news
