Public International Law and Development-Induced Displacement: A Socio-Legal Analysis

Revista Europea de Derecho de la Navegación Marítima y Aeronáutica, Vol. 30, 2013, Forthcoming

19 Pages Posted: 19 Jul 2013 Last revised: 5 Aug 2013

Date Written: July 18, 2013

Abstract

The aim of this article is an analysis of development-induced displacement and resettlement (DIDR) on the basis of public international law and international human rights law in particular. It is estimated that approximately fifteen million people each year are forced to leave their former place of residence following development projects. Consequences of economic development are the second largest cause of internal displacement worldwide after the natural disasters. The eight main causes of this problem worldwide include: a) construction of dams and irrigation projects, b) expansion of transportation networks, c) urbanization, re-urbanization and transformation of urban areas (including urban transport and water supply projects), d) extraction and transportation of mineral resources (open-pit mining, construction of pipelines, etc.), d) deforestation and expansion of agricultural areas, e) conservation of nature, f) population redistribution schemes, g) other causes. Development-induced displacement and resettlement is nowadays one of the largest single categories of internal displacement. The growing scale of this problem is accompanied by numerous cases of violations of fundamental human rights of displaced (DPs) and affected (PAPs) people. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the public international law documents, which might be easily applied in the context of situation of people displaced following development projects. Legal considerations has been preceded by an analysis of the scale of this problem and its character in the different parts of the world. The first area of analysis are general international human rights law instruments adopted several years ago (UDHR, ICESCR). Another point of reference are provisions of CERD and ILO Convention No. 169 adopted in 1989. An important area of legal interpretations are also more advanced international human rights concepts (indigenous people's rights, human right to development, self-determination of indigenous peoples, rights to natural resources). The next analyses are devoted to the documents concerning IDPs protection (Guiding Principles of Internal Displacement, Great Lakes Pact and the Kampala Convention). The documents on IDPs protection and assistance are focused primarily on the situation of people displaced following the escalation of internal violence and natural hazards. Therefore they do not contain many specific provisions important in the context of sitiation of people forcibly displaced following development projects (standards of planning and implementation of resettlement, property rights of displaced and affected communities, the problem of responsibility for the negative socioeconomic consequences of relocation, environmental consequences of development projects). The final passages of this article are focused on activities of institutional actors (World Bank, OECD, regional development banks, international humanitarian institutions) on regulation the standards of resettlement and protection of people relocated or affected following its consequences.

Keywords: public international law, international human rights law, human rights, forced migration, internal displacement, international development, development-induced displacement and resettlement, involuntary resettlement, globalization, relocation, ethics

Suggested Citation

Terminski, Bogumil, Public International Law and Development-Induced Displacement: A Socio-Legal Analysis (July 18, 2013). Revista Europea de Derecho de la Navegación Marítima y Aeronáutica, Vol. 30, 2013, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2295558

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