Relocation Failures in Sri Lanka: A Short History of Internal Displacement and Resettlement

Each year, millions of people are internally displaced and resettled in the wake of wars and floods or to make way for large-scale development projects, and this number is increasing. Humanitarian and development specialists continue to struggle with designing and executing effective protection strategies and durable solutions.

Relocation Failures explains how internal displacement and efforts to engineer resettlement are conceived and practiced by policy makers and practitioners. The author argues that policies for internally displaced peoples are weak and diluted by narrow interpretations of state sovereignty and collective action dilemmas, and in the case of Sri Lanka, unintentionally intensified ethnic segregation and ultimately war.

This unique new book considers the origins and parameters of internal displacement and resettlement policy and practice and proposes an explanation for why it often fails. In highlighting the ways that development assistance can exacerbate smoldering conflicts, the volume provides an important caution to the aid community.

Robert Muggah is the Global Security and Cooperation Professional Fellow (SSRC) at the Refugee Studies Centre in Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford. He is also a senior researcher and project manager of the Small Arms Survey at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva.