Involuntary Displacement and Resettlement : Policy and Practice
Edited by
Priyanthi Fernando, Karin Fernando, Mansi Kumarasiri
December 2009
In Sri Lanka people have been forced to move from their homes and familiar surroundings due to a number of reasons. Development projects such as the Mahaweli Project and more recently the Colombo-Matara highway have necessitated the physical and economic displacement of large numbers of people. The decades long ethnic conflict caused daily movement of people as they fled battle areas. Disasters – both recurring events such as floods and landslides as well as catastrophic events such as the tsunami – have led to people moving to safer areas. Accommodating the diverse needs and lifestyles of the affected people is a highly complex undertaking. Invariably, the resettlement process is emotionally charged and rife with dissatisfaction.
The responsibility of the resettlement process is allocated on the basis of what triggers the displacement. The process is handled by various departments and units not bound by the same policies and practices, and this can lead to valuable lessons and knowledge being lost once a project ends. This publication brings together lessons and analysis from the different types of displacement and resettlement issues to improve the policy and practice of this delicate process, for all who may be affected, both now and in the future.
Addendum to Forced to Move:
Involuntary Displacement and Resettlement – policy and practice edited by Priyanthi Fernando, Karin Fernando and Mansi Kumarasiri, Colombo: Centre for Poverty Analysis, 2009 (ISBN 978-955-1040-50-0)
This is to acknowledge that the Introduction (pp 1-11) to this volume of edited papers presented at the 9th Annual Symposium on Poverty Research organized by the Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA) in 2008 draws on the two papers authored by Mansi Kumarasiri (pp43-56) and by Nilakshi de Silva and Neranjana Gunatilleke (pp 165-175), and these two papers are based on information gathered during CEPA's engagement by the Asian Development Bank as the Independent External Monitor of Resettlement Activities of the Southern Transport Development Project, (from 19 December 2005, extended up to 31 December 2010), funded by the Asian Development Bank, under TA 4748 SRI.
The views and opinions expressed in these papers are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of the Asian Development Bank or of its counterpart government agency, the Road Development Authority (RDA).
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