Development-induced Displacement and Human Rights in Africa


Book Description

Within the context of the 2009 Kampala Convention, this book examines how a balance can be struck between the imperative of development projects and the rights of persons likely to be displaced in Africa. Following independence, many African states embarked on large-scale development projects such as dams, urban renewal and extraction of natural resources and have had to grapple with how to protect displaced communities while implementing development projects. These projects were considered a panacea for Africa’s development and the economic interests of the majority were often considered over and above the interests of the minority of people who were displaced by these projects .This book examines how a balance can be struck between the imperative of development and the rights of displaced persons within the context of the African Union Convention on the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (the Kampala Convention). Romola Adeola analyses the obligations that are placed on African states by the Kampala Convention in the context of development-induced displacement. This book will be of interest to scholars of human rights law, forced migration, African Studies and development.




Development-Induced Displacement and Resettlement


Book Description

This book explores the issue of development-induced resettlement, with a particular emphasis on the humanitarian, legal, and social aspects of this problem. Today, so-called 'development-induced displacement and resettlement' (DIDR) is one of the dominant causes of internal spatial mobility worldwide. Each year over 15 million people are forced to abandon their homes to make space for economic development infrastructure. The construction of dams and irrigation projects, the expansion of communication networks, urbanization and re-urbanization, the extraction and transportation of mineral resources, forced evictions in urban areas, and population redistribution schemes count among the many possible causes.Terminski aims to present the issue of development-caused displacement as a highly diverse, global social problem occurring in all regions of the world. As a human rights issue it poses a challenge to public international law and to institutions providing humanitarian assistance. A significant part of this book is devoted to the current dynamics of development-caused resettlement in Europe, which has been neglected in the academic literature so far.




National Protection of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa


Book Description

This volume examines the protection of internally displaced persons (IDPs) through an interdisciplinary lens, with a focus on IDPs in Africa. The novelty of this book resonates from the fact that it explores national perspectives on internal displacement, with the aim of providing a well-grounded engagement on the subject of internal displacement, for which very little exists. The chapter authors are drawn from various disciplines and institutional backgrounds, and provide context-based analysis and examine the situation in countries with significant population displacement. The work is a timely engagement, as the issue of internal displacement has emerged as a pertinent concern in Africa. Each of the chapters in this book draw on significant context-based knowledge and on issues for which there is a need for pertinent attention across the African countries. This book will be a significant reference point for researchers, professors, practitioners, judges, policy makers, international organizations, regional bodies, lawyers and scholars in the field of migration, forced migration, and regional institutions.




Country Frameworks for Development Displacement and Resettlement


Book Description

The problem of escalating population displacement demands global attention and country co-ordination. This book investigates the particular issue of development-induced displacement, whereby land is seized or restricted by the state for the purposes of development projects. Those displaced by these schemes often risk losses to their homes, livelihoods, food security, and socio-cultural support; for which they are rarely fully compensated. Bringing together 22 specialist researchers and practitioners from across the globe, this book provides a much-needed independent analysis of country frameworks for development-induced displacement spanning Asia, Africa, Central and South America. As global competition for land increases, public and private sector lenders are lightening their social safeguards, shifting the oversight for protecting the displaced to national law and regulations. This raises a central question: Do countries have effective ways of addressing the risks and lost opportunities for their people who are displaced? While many countries remain impervious to the problem, the book also shines a light on the few who are pioneering new legislation and strategies, intended to address questions such as: should the social costs to those displaced help determine whether a project meets the public interest and merits financing? Does the modern state need powers of eminent domain? How can country laws, systems, institutions and negotiations be reformed to protect citizens better against disempowering public and private sector development displacement? This book will interest those working on forced and voluntary migration, property and expropriation law, human rights, environmental and social impact assessment, internal and refugee displacement from conflicts, environment change, disasters and development.




Development-Induced Displacement and Resettlement


Book Description

Every year millions of people are displaced from their homes, livelihoods and communities due to land-based development projects. There is no limit to what can be called a ‘development project’. They can range from small-scale infrastructure or mining projects to mega hydropower plants; can be public or private, well-planned or rushed into. Knowledge of development-induced displacement and resettlement (DIDR) remains limited even after decades of experience and research. Many questions are yet unanswered: What is "success" in resettlement? Is development without displacement possible or can resettlement be developmental? Is there a global safeguard policy or do we need an international right ‘not to be displaced’? This book revisits what we think we know about DIDR. Starting with case studies that challenge some of the most widespread preconceptions, it goes on to discuss the ethical aspects of DIDR. The book assesses the current laws, policies and rights governing the sector, and provides a glimpse of how the displaced people defend themselves in the absence of effective governance and safeguard mechanisms. This book is a valuable resource for students and researchers in development studies, population and development, and migration and development.




Risks and Reconstruction


Book Description

This book offers a multidimensional comparative analysis of two large groups of the world's displaced populations : resettlers uprooted by development and refugees fleeing military conflicts or natural calamities. The authors explore common central issues: the condition of being "displaced," the risks of impoverishment and destitu-tion, the rights and entitlements of those uprooted, and, most important, the means of reconstruction of their livelihoods. (Adapté de l'Introduction).




Conservation and Mobile Indigenous Peoples


Book Description

Wildlife conservation and other environmental protection projects can have tremendous impact on the lives and livelihoods of the often mobile, difficult-to-reach, and marginal peoples who inhabit the same territory. The contributors to this collection of case studies, social scientists as well as natural scientists, are concerned with this human element in biodiversity. They examine the interface between conservation and indigenous communities forced to move or to settle elsewhere in order to accommodate environmental policies and biodiversity concerns. The case studies investigate successful and not so successful community-managed, as well as local participatory, conservation projects in Africa, the Middle East, South and South Eastern Asia, Australia and Latin America. There are lessons to be learned from recent efforts in community managed conservation and this volume significantly contributes to that discussion.




The Economics of Involuntary Resettlement


Book Description

Content Description #Includes bibliographical references.




Climate Change and Displacement


Book Description

Environmental migration is not new. Nevertheless, the events and processes accompanying global climate change threaten to increase human movement both within states and across international borders. The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change has predicted an increased frequency and severity of climate events such as storms, cyclones and hurricanes, as well as longer-term sea level rise and desertification, which will impact upon people's ability to survive in certain parts of the world. This book brings together a variety of disciplinary perspectives on the phenomenon of climate-induced displacement. With chapters by leading scholars in their field, it collects in one place a rigorous, holistic analysis of the phenomenon, which can better inform academic understanding and policy development alike. Governments have not been prepared to take a leading role in developing responses to the issue, in large part due to the absence of strong theoretical frameworks from which sound policy can be constructed. The specialist expertise of the authors in this book means that each chapter identifies key issues that need to be considered in shaping domestic, regional and international responses, including the complex causes of movement, the conceptualisation of migration responses to climate change, the terminology that should be used to describe those who move, and attitudes to migration that may affect decisions to stay or leave. The book will help to facilitate the creation of principled, research-based responses, and establish climate-induced displacement as an important aspect of both the climate change and global migration debates.




African Migration, Global Inequalities, and Human Rights


Book Description

Migration from and within Africa, just like migration elsewhere in the world, often generates anti-immigrant sentiment and ignites heated public debate about the migration policies of the destination countries. These countries include South Africa as well as others outside the continent. The countries of origin are also keen to minimize losses through "brain drain" and to capture resources such as remittances. Increasingly, international organizations and human rights advocates have stressed the need to protect the interests of migrants themselves. However, while the UNDP's 2009 Human Development Report talks of "win-win-win" solutions, in practice it is the perceived interests of destination countries that enjoy the greatest attention, while the rights of migrants themselves are afforded the least. Yet migration is not just an issue in itself: it also points to structural inequalities between countries and regions. Managing migration and protecting migrants is too limited an agenda. Activists and policymakers must also address these inequalities directly to ensure that people can pursue their fundamental human rights whether they move or stay. It is not enough to measure development only in terms of progress at the national level: development must also be measured in terms of reductions in the gross levels of inequality that now determine differential rights on the basis of accident of birth.