Resettlement

Voluntary Resettlement

As components of some development programs, resettlement processes can be voluntary or involuntary. Voluntary resettlement takes place under those government-sponsored programs, which make available large areas of uncultivated and uninhabited lands to farming families who reside elsewhere and who possess little or no land. These programs facilitate the resettlement of families that voluntarily register for moving to the new lands. Such programs for promoting voluntary resettlement were organized in the 1960s and 1970s in Africa, in the 1980s in Indonesia, in Latin America, and so forth. Some of these resettlement programs, however, as in Indonesia, were predicated on systematic deforestation at the new settlement sites and had disastrous ecological effects, which eventually were recognized and led to closure of the programs. One successful voluntary resettlement program was implemented in the onchocerciasis (river blindness) areas of western Africa after the disease was eradicated through an environmental and health care program. During the 1990s, large-scale voluntary resettlement programs became relatively rare.

Voluntary population movements, such as rural-urban migration, also obviously imply voluntary resettlement, but such movements are defined and conceptualized usually as migration processes. Voluntary mobility is a vehicle for people's willing pursuit of new opportunities.

In contrast, involuntary resettlement takes place when government-sponsored programs expropriate lands for alternatives uses and compel people to move. Involuntary resettlers do not have the choice to remain in their present location. Consequently, involuntary resettlers face more risks than opportunities.

Involuntary Resettlement in Development

Involuntary displacement and resettlement entailed by some development projects have different social content and processes than forced displacements caused by conflicts in which people have to flee suddenly without planning. Many must cross borders and become refugees in asylum countries. Certain development projects require right-of-way and change patterns of land use, thus causing involuntary population displacement and resettlement. Such processes can be massive. Research has established that during the last two decades of the twentieth century 180–200 million people worldwide were subjected to development-caused involuntary displacement. Such displacement is expected to continue, at a rate of 8–10 million people annually, as an undesirable yet often unavoidable result of development programs. Both the magnitude and the political sensitivity of involuntary resettlement processes triggered by development programs have put resettlement issues at a high place on the international development agenda. Making an effort to mitigate the effects of these processes can reduce their size and raise their standards but are not likely to eliminate them. Therefore, a consensus is emerging that the standards for involuntary resettlements must be raised by adopting policies and legal frameworks and by improving the design and the financial foundations of resettlement programs, thus enabling the resettled populations to share in the benefits of development and achieve sustainable resettlement.

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