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Amsterdam Center for International Law Amsterdam Center for International Law

The human cost of development: situating development-induced displacement in international human rights law

6 February 2023

Dr Roman Teshome successfully defended her dissertation on 25 January 2023, following four years of research at the Amsterdam Centre for International Law. Below she gives a brief explanation of her research on how enforced displacement can have huge negative consequences on the millions of people it affects each year. She examined if current human rights laws could protect these people better and therefore avoid many of the adverse impacts.
Dr Teshome receiving her PhD along with her supervisors (Professor Y. Donders and Dr M. den Heijer) and other members of the UvA Law Faculty.

PhD Research of Dr Roman Teshome

My research deals with development-induced displacement (DID), which is a form of internal displacement where individuals or groups are involuntarily moved from their homes or residences to make room for development projects. Displacement, in this context, occurs when the implementation of development projects involves the acquisition of land or results in unbearable living conditions that force people to flee their homes. While these development projects have undeniable economic potential, the displacement they often cause comes with a plethora of adverse socio-economic consequences and interferes with the protection of human rights.

Against this backdrop, my research situates this social phenomenon in international human rights law. Using a human rights-based approach as a theoretical framework, it (re)frames the consequences of displacement as human rights issues and explores international human rights law responses to these issues.

Hence, the main question I pose in this research is: “how and to what extent do existing international human rights instruments protect the rights of people(s) affected by DID?” To this end, I set out to identify the relevant frameworks and norms applicable to this form of displacement, examine their application in the context of DID, and critically engage with their gaps and limitations, if any.

While there is no specialized human rights framework that specifically and comprehensively deals with DID, as I elucidate in my study, the applicable norms can be drawn from various sources. These sources include general human rights frameworks and norms, specialized human rights instruments that deal with specific issues relevant to DID or specific groups of people it affects, and various policy documents. My research maps out and contextually analyses these sources in order to identify the rights-based safeguards that need to be put in place by states to mitigate, if not prevent, the adverse impacts of displacement prompted by development projects.

One of the conclusions I arrive at in this research is that while being forcibly uprooted from one’s home or residence is inherently disruptive, most of the adverse impacts of displacement can be avoided, or at least mitigated, with the provision of adequate safeguards at all phases of displacement and resettlement. I argue that the integration of human rights norms and principles in the process of displacement can aid the formulation and provision of adequate safeguards.

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