El reasentamiento involuntario a raíz de la actividad minera y su efecto en las transformaciones socio-espaciales en el corregimiento de Providencia-Antioquia

El corregimiento de Providencia -Antioquia, es el epicentro del proyecto minero aurífero a cielo abierto más grande de Colombia: ‘Gramalote’. Por ser parte de la zona de influencia directa del proyecto, el reasentamiento involuntario de la población parecería ser definitivo en el mediano plazo. Empero, el gran reto es llevar a cabo un proceso de reasentamiento exitoso a sabiendas que en Colombia no existe una política nacional de reasentamiento y por lo tanto, en este caso específico la empresa deberá implementar la Norma de Desempeño 5 –PS5-: Adquisición de Tierras y Reasentamiento Involuntario creada por el Banco Mundial. A lo largo del documento el lector encontrará que el mayor reto de la aplicación de la PS5 radica primero, en el desconocimiento que tienen las entidades de control al respecto y segundo, en el cómo aplicar a futuro una norma tan general conociendo que cada territorio y sociedad son altamente heterogéneos.

Migrants, refugees and mobility : how useful are information communication technologies in the first phase of resettlement?

The rate at which people move and resettle around the world is unprecedented. Mobility and resettlement is now greatly assisted by the use of inexpensive internet communication technologies (ICTs) for a wide variety of functions: to communicate locally and across territories, for localised information seeking, geo – locational mapping and for forging new social connections in host countries and cities. This article is based on a qualitative study of newly arrived migrants and mobile people from non English speaking backgrounds (NESB) to the city of Brisbane, Australia and investigates how the internet is used to assist the initial period of settling into the city. As increasing amounts of essential information is placed online, the study asks how people from NESB communities manage to negotiate the types of information they require during the early stages of resettlement, given varying levels of access to ICTs, digital and language literacy. The study finds that the internet is widely used for specific location information seeking (such as accommodation and job-seeking), but this is often supplemented with other non-mediated sources of information. The study identified implications for social policy in regard to the resourcing and access of information. While findings are specific to the study location, it is feasible that the patterns of internet use for resettlement have relevance in a broader context.

A five year longitudinal study of wellbeing in resettlement amongst humanitarian migrants from Burma

This thesis research was conducted to identify factors that impact the psychological well-being of refugees from Burma who have been resettled in Australia. Qualitative analysis of interviews conducted within the first year of resettlement, and again at four years and five years post-resettlement demonstrated that refugee well-being is influenced by the context of resettlement and the continuity of existing relationships. Results have implications for immigration policy and contribute to knowledge of understanding and assisting with the process of resettlement.

Community-led resettlement: From a flood affected slum to a new society in Pune, India

This paper describes the resettlement process of a community devastated by annual floods, to newly constructed housing in Pune, India. The relocation from Kamgar Putala slum to a housing society at Hadapsar was organized by a community-led NGO partnership in 2004. The housing development was coordinated by the local NGO Shelter Associates with significant community participation. The housing has been revisited in 2010 to evaluate the sustainability of the resettlement project’s delivery model via stakeholder perception. The process of organizing for resettlement after natural disaster is described along with the implementation and evaluation of the new housing nearly six years after initial occupation. The strong partnership approach overcame a series of political and financial hurdles at various stages of the relocation project. The story of resettling Kamgar Putala is detailed alongside an outline of the current political climate for an alternative slum-upgrading policy in India and Pune. The advantages of an empowered community supported by an influential local NGO demonstrate a commendable team effort which has tackled the threat of floods. The paper highlights the merits of a community-led partnership approach to housing development for achieving sustainable urban development as well as the alleviation of poverty in a developing context.

Community-led resettlement: From a flood-affected slum to a new society in Pune, India

This paper describes the resettlement process of a community devastated by annual floods, to newly constructed housing in Pune, India. The relocation from Kamgar Putala slum to a housing society at Hadapsar was organized by a community-led NGO partnership in 2004. The housing development was coordinated by the local NGO Shelter Associates with significant community participation. The housing has been revisited in 2010 to evaluate the sustainability of the resettlement project's delivery model via stakeholder perception. The process of organizing for resettlement after natural disaster is described along with the implementation and evaluation of the new housing nearly six years after initial occupation. The strong partnership approach overcame a series of political and financial hurdles at various stages of the relocation project. The story of resettling Kamgar Putala is detailed alongside an outline of the current political climate for an alternative slum-upgrading policy in India and Pune. The advantages of an empowered community supported by an influential local NGO demonstrate a commendable team effort which has tackled the threat of floods. The paper highlights the merits of a community-led partnership approach to housing development for achieving sustainable urban development as well as the alleviation of poverty in a developing context. © 2011 Taylor & Francis.

No longer Sukumbasis: Challenges in grassroots-led squatter resettlement program in Kathmandu with special reference to Kirtipur Housing Project.

The paper is the outcome of a systematic effort to study and analyze the experiences of the Kirtipur Housing Project (KHP), the first ever grassroots-led squatter resettlement project in Kathmandu. It is widely hailed as a success story as it has been able to provide a legal, affordable and good quality housing solution to the Sukumbasis through grassroots mobilization. The paper analyses the dynamics of this mobilization and the roles of different actors to show how community empowerment, civil actions and local government interests have converged to create a constructive partnership in line with wider enabling principles. Apart from meeting the narrowly defined objective to rehouse 44 households, the project reflects capacity of the community, quite apart from lobbying and protest, in areas of project planning and management. While no grassroots mobilisation can be expected to replicate in a dynamic environment, the paper draws some policy insights that indicate the ability of the grassroots mobilization in Kathmandu to continue and grow. Conversely, the lessons learned from the project also point to limitations in terms lack of prerequisite critical mass or economic benefits to influence the government to prepare a policy framework under which it can foster in a more structured way.

The implications of being an international medical graduate (IMG) in Canadian society : a qualitative study of foreign-trained physicians' resettlement, sense of identity and health status

This qualitative research study used grounded theory methodology to explore the settlement experiences and changes in professional identity, self esteem and health status of foreign-trained physicians (FTPs) who resettled in Canada and were not able to practice their profession. Seventeen foreign-trained physicians completed a pre-survey and rated their health status, quality of life, self esteem and stress before and after coming to Canada. They also rated changes in their experiences of violence and trauma, inclusion and belonging, and racism and discrimination. Eight FTPs from the survey sample were interviewed in semi-structured qualitative interviews to explore their experiences with the loss of their professional medical identities and attempts to regain them during resettlement. This study found that without their medical license and identity, this group of FTPs could not fully restore their professional, social, and economic status and this affected their self esteem and health status. The core theme of the loss of professional identity and attempts to regain it while being underemployed were connected with the multifaceted challenges of resettlement which created experiences of lowered selfesteem, and increased stress, anxiety and depression. They identified the re-licensing process (cost, time, energy, few residency positions, and low success rate) as the major barrier to a full and successful settlement and re-establishment of their identities. Grounded research was used to develop General Resettlement Process Model and a Physician Re-licensing Model outlining the tasks and steps for the successfiil general resettlement of all newcomers to Canada with additional process steps to be accomplished by foreign-trained physicians. Maslow's Theory of Needs was expanded to include the re-establishment of professional identity for this group to re-establish levels of safety, security, belonging, self-esteem and self-actualization. Foreign-trained physicians had established prior professional medical identities, self-esteem, recognition, social status, purpose and meaning and bring needed human capital and skills to Canada. However, without identifying and addressing the barriers to their full inclusion in Canadian society, the health of this population may deteriorate and the health system of the host country may miss out on their needed contributions.

Le rapport Displaced Persons and Their Resettlement in the United States et le début des politiques d’accueil aux États-Unis

RÉSUMÉ : Avec le dénouement de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale, le problème des réfugiés en Europe devient un enjeu international. Plusieurs millions de personnes, que l’on nomme les Displaced Persons (DP), sont sans refuge et doivent recevoir une aide immédiate pour survivre. Même si la majorité de ces gens retourneront dans leurs pays d’origine, il reste encore des centaines de milliers de réfugiés en 1948. La seule solution concrète pour régler cette problématique est l’émigration des réfugiés dans des pays prêts à les accepter. Les Américains jouent un rôle crucial en acceptant 415 000 DP entre 1948 et 1952 grâce au Displaced Persons Act de 1948 et ses amendements en 1950 et 1951. Après d’âpres discussions entre les restrictionnistes et ceux qui défendent la libéralisation des lois d’immigration, naîtra le Displaced Persons Act (DP Act) signé avec beaucoup de réticence, le 25 juin 1948, par le président Harry S. Truman. Cette loi qui prévoit la venue de 202 000 DP en deux ans, contient des mesures jugées discriminatoires à l'endroit de certaines ethnies. Afin d'améliorer le DP Act, le Congrès effectue des recherches sur la situation des réfugiés toujours dans les camps en 1949 tout en étudiant l’impact de la venue des DP aux États-Unis entre 1948 et 1950. Cette étude est soumise sous forme de rapport, le Displaced Persons and Their Resettlement in the United States, le 20 janvier 1950. Ce mémoire propose une analyse minutieuse du rapport et de son contexte politique afin de démontrer le rôle important de cette étude dans le processus décisionnel du Congrès américain visant à accueillir un plus grand nombre de DP tout en posant les bases pour une politique d’accueil en matière de refugiés.

'To move or not to move': Reflections on the resettlement of artisanal miners in the western region of Ghana

This article critically reflects upon the shortcomings of the 'Prestea Action Plan', an ambitious initiative undertaken to facilitate the resettlement of artisanal miners operating in the Western Region of Ghana. The aim of the exercise was to identify viable areas for the thousands of operators who were working illegally in the town of Prestea, an area under concession to the US-based multinational, Golden Star Resources Ltd. At the time of its launch, it was one of the few support initiatives to target artisanal miners, whose claims to land are generally not recognized by governments. It was a particularly significant exercise in Ghana because it suggested that the authorities, who traditionally have exercised a policy of non-negotiation with such groups, had finally recognized that dialogue was needed if the growing rift between the country's indigenous artisanal miners, foreign mining companies and government bodies was to be bridged. It soon emerged, however, that despite its commendable policy objectives, the Plan was fundamentally flawed-problems which would undermine the entire exercise.

Flooding, resettlement and change in livelihoods: evidence from rural Mozambique

Post-disaster development policies, such as resettlement, can have major impacts on communities. This article concerns how and why people's livelihoods change as a result of resettlement, and what relocated people's views of such changes are, in the context of natural disasters. It presents two historically-grounded, comparative case studies of post-flood resettlement in rural Mozambique. The studies show a movement away from rain-fed subsistence agriculture towards commercial agriculture and non-agricultural activities. Ability to secure a viable livelihood was a major determinant of whether resettlers remained in their new locations or returned to the river valleys despite the risks that floods posed. The findings suggest that more research is required into 1) understanding why resettlers choose to stay in or abandon designated resettlement areas; 2) what is meant by 'voluntary' and 'involuntary' resettlement in the context of post-disaster reconstruction; and 3) what the policy drivers for resettlement are in developing countries.

A climate of control: flooding, displacement and planned resettlement in the Lower Zambezi River valley, Mozambique

In recent years, the potential role of planned, internal resettlement as a climate change adaptation measure has been highlighted by national governments and the international policy community. However, in many developing countries, resettlement is a deeply political process that often results in an unequal distribution of costs and benefits amongst relocated persons. This paper examines these tensions in Mozambique, drawing on a case study of flood-affected communities in the Lower Zambezi River valley. It takes a political ecology approach – focusing on discourses of human-environment interaction, as well as the power relationships that are supported by such discourses – to show how a dominant narrative of climate change-induced hazards for small-scale farmers is contributing to their involuntary resettlement to higher-altitude, less fertile areas of land. These forced relocations are buttressed by a series of wider economic and political interests in the Lower Zambezi River region, such dam construction for hydroelectric power generation and the extension of control over rural populations, from which resettled people derive little direct benefit. Rather than engaging with these challenging issues, most international donors present in the country accept the ‘inevitability’ of extreme weather impacts and view resettlement as an unfortunate and, in some cases, necessary step to increase people’s ‘resilience’, thus rationalising the top-down imposition of unpopular social policies. The findings add weight to the argument that a depoliticised interpretation of climate change can deflect attention away from underlying drivers of vulnerability and poverty, as well as obscure the interests of governments that are intent on reordering poor and vulnerable populations.

Refugee Settlement in Australia: Policy, Scholarship and the Production of Knowledge, 1952 − 2013

Since 1947, Australia has formally resettled more than 750,000 refugees. During that time, researchers have successfully completed more than 150 Masters and doctoral theses and published more than 900 articles, books and reports about issues of refugee settlement in Australia, with about half of them being published in the past 10 years. In this paper, we discuss the development of the production of knowledge about refugee resettlement. We identify trends in the literature, such as the emergence of an ethno-specific focus, and the concern with settlement's psychological and emotional impact, and relate them to policy changes. We suggest that scholars need critically to take stock of the knowledge produced so far and be more cognisant of the international scholarly debate.

REFUGEES AND RESETTLEMENT: A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF REFUGEE INTEGRATION THROUGH SOCIAL & SUPPORT SERVICES

This dissertation studies refugee resettlement in the United States utilizing the Integration Indicator’s framework developed by Ager and Strang for the U.S. context. The study highlights the U.S. refugee admissions program and the policies in the states of Maryland and Massachusetts while analyzing the service delivery models and its effects on refugee integration in these locations. Though immigration policy and funding for refugee services are primarily the domain of the federal government, funds are allocated through and services are delivered at the state level. The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), which operates under the Department of Health and Human Services, was established after the Refugee Act of 1980 to deliver assistance to displaced persons. The ORR provides funds to individual states primarily through The Refugee Social Service and Targeted Assistance Formula Grant programs. Since the inauguration of the ORR three primary models of refugee integration through service delivery have emerged. Two of the models include the publicly/privately administered programs, where resources are allocated to the state in conjunction with private voluntary agencies; and the Wilson/Fish Alternative programs, where states sub-contract all elements of the resettlement program to voluntary agencies and private organizations —in which they can cease all state level participation and voluntary agencies or private organizations contract directly from the ORR in order for all states to deliver refugee services where the live. The specific goals of this program are early employment and economic self-sufficiency. This project utilizes US Census, state, and ORR data in conjunction with interviews of refugee resettlement practitioners involved in the service delivery and refugees. The findings show that delivery models emphasizing job training, English instruction courses, institutional collaboration, and monetary assistance, increases refugee acclimation and adaptation, providing insight into their potential for integration into the United States.