Forced Displacement: Why Rights Matter

Uprootedness, exile and forced displacement, be they due to conflict, persecution or even so-called 'development', are conditions which characterize the lives of millions of people across the globe. While the international community has largely been concerned with refugees crossing borders to flee persecution, violence, impoverishment and brutal regimes, less attention has been paid to internally displaced populations. Critically examining the disjunctures in global and local policy frameworks and categories that determine the lives and status of displaced people, and providing in-depth case studies from Africa, the Middle East and Asia, this collection evaluates rights-based approaches that seek to award agency to displaced people and demonstrates how 'rights talk' can be 'rights practice' in forced migration research, policy and practice. Including contributions from leading scholars and activists in the field, the book analyses and attempts to bridge the divide between a range of displacement situations, including development 'oustees', refugees and internally displaced persons.

Table of Contents:
Introduction; K.Grabska and L.Mehta Protection and Durable Solutions: Regimes for Development and Conflict-Induced Internally Displaced and Resettled Populations; R.Muggah Rights and Development-Induced Displacement: Risk Management or Social Protection?; B.Morvaridi Brothers or Poor Cousins? Rights, Policies and the Wellbeing of Refugees in Egypt; K.Grabska Refugees or Foreigners? The Case of Palestinians in Lebanon; J.Suleiman Access to Economic and Social Rights in First Countries of Asylum and Repatriation: A Case Study of Eritrean Refugees in Sudan; G.Kibreab Rights and Decisions to Return: Internally Displaced Persons in Post-war Sudan; M.Assal Rights, Needs and Responsibility: Challenges to Rights-Based Advocacy for Refugees' Health and Education in Lebanon; S.Trad and M.Kagan Indigenous Peoples, Displacement Through 'Development' and Rights Violations: The Case of the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia; C.Yong Ooi Lin Why are Human Rights Violated with Impunity? Forced Displacement in India's Narmada Valley; L.Mehta Protests Against UNHCR to Achieve Rights: Some Reflections; B.Harrell-Bond Conclusion; K.Grabska and L.Mehta

About the Author :
KATARZYNA GRABSKA worked as a Projects Coordinator and Researcher at the Forced Migration and Refugee Studies program at the American University, Egypt. She is currently researching changes in gender relations as a result of forced migration, and the return of populations among southern Sudanese refugees, at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK. LYLA MEHTA is Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK. She is author of 'The Politics and Poetics of Water' and editor of 'Displaced by Development'.