Masses in Flight: The Global Crisis of Internal Displacement by Roberta Cohen and Francis M. Deng; The Brookings Institution, Washington D.C., 1998; pages 414, (paperback) $22.95.
The Nowhere People: Responses to Internally Displaced Persons (ed.) Siby Tharakan; Books for Change, Bangalore, 2002; pages 156, Rs.180.
THE United Nations defines internally displaced persons, or IDPs, as persons or groups of persons who have been forced to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence as a result of, or in order to avoid, in particular, the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalised violence, violation of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognised state border.
Both volumes under review deal with IDPs. Masses in Flight, examines IDPs from a global perspective and The Nowhere People concentrates on the situation in India.
Any meaningful engagement of the topic demands a contribution from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and people who have valuable field experience. Both books have included the work of individuals, NGOs and the U.N. to document, publicise and improve the condition of IDPs. Both constitute source material for learning more about the situation on the ground. Roberta Cohen and Francis Deng are co-directors of the Brookings Institution's project on internal displacement. Deng has served as the representative of the U.N. Secretary-General on IDPs. Several of the articles in The Nowhere People are written by people who have been associated with IDP projects in India.
An important reference work, Masses... suggests ways to publicise and improve the condition of IDPs, and offers one of the best examples of policy-relevant research that the field of forced migration has to offer. It looks at forced migration at the macro level and provides an overview of the problem of IDPs. For case studies, the authors have written another edited volume titled The Forsaken People: The Case Studies of Internally Displaced, which has details on IDPs in Rwanda, Liberia, Sudan, Yugoslavia, the North Caucasus (Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia), Tajikistan, Sri Lanka, Colombia and Peru. Although the first chapter of Masses... takes a global overview of IDPs, it does so with the objective of finding a comprehensive approach to addressing the problem.
The book describes the evolution of international concern for IDPs and how they came to be defined as a distinct group in need of protection. In separate chapters, the authors focus on the effectiveness of existing legal structures. The final chapter attempts to address the problem of internal displacement.
The guiding principles on internal displacement, which form an appendix to Masses..., were drafted by a group of international lawyers at the request of the Special Representative of the U.N. Secretary-General on IDPs. This document helps reduce some of the existing confusion over what legal norms offer protection to IDPs. This is consistent with international human rights and humanitarian laws. Despite the relevance of several international legal norms, the authors argue that numerous normative and applicability gaps remain. In the chapter on the legal framework the book identifies areas where human rights law provides insufficient protection owing to inexplicit articulation. The Nowhere People has emphasised the need for India to implement these principles.
Masses... makes out a case for international involvement on the issue of IDPs. It emphasises that as the gap between the affected population and the government or the controlling authorities widens during situations that cause displacement, a responsibility vacuum is created, making international involvement necessary.
The nine articles in The Nowhere People focus on displacement caused by development such as dam construction, which accounts for an IDP population of 30 million in India. This book is the outcome of a national consultation organised by the Ecumenical Christian Centre. A pertinent paper is on the Upper Kolab Project in Koraput district of Orissa. Backed by statistical data, the article makes the point that weak socio-economic and political conditions lead to greater chances of severe impoverishment among the affected people.
Each article follows a different format. The first four chapters give an overview of the development-displaced people and, with some repetition, seek to change readers' perception of development projects. The third chapter gives details of the general principles, which are also published as an annexure.
The next three chapters are more interesting in terms of the information they provide. Two of them put under scrutiny two specific dam projects, the Kolab project and the Koyana Dam project in Maharashtra. The fifth chapter looks into the question of big dams as a boon or a burden.
The eighth chapter provides an insightful analysis on how the compensation to displaced people for the prope rty acquired from them to build public infrastructure is calculated on the basis of the archaic Land Acquisition Act, 1894. It details the authority the Act has given the state to fix the rate of compensation in an arbitrary manner. It calls for a repeal of the ``colonial act'' and its replacement with an ``acceptable and democratic'' Act. The 10-page chapter concludes with four-point recommendations to frame a people-friendly Act. These are that compensation must be given for common property resources; compensation must be paid at the replacement value of the land and not at the market value; the definition of project-displaced persons must be enlarged to include married/unmarried sons and daughters of 18 years and above, physically and mentally challenged persons, orphans, divorcees, widows, landless labourers, artisans, village services men, encroachers, grazers, fisherfolk and so on; and full participation of the displaced persons must be ensured in the making of decisions concerning the project.
The inclusion of the eighth chapter, which is on persons displaced by the Chitmahal project, is surprising because they have not been recognised as IDPs by the Government of India. They are not even recognised as refugees. They have been largely ignored by successive governments. Oxfam India Trust has been raising their case before successive national governments as also at international forums. The article on Chitmahals is another attempt by its consultant, Arindam K. Sen, in this direction. It provides a detailed historical analysis on how Chitmahal oustees have come to be known as the nowhere people. It ends with the reiteration of the demand for grant of Indian citizenship for them.
Together the two books make out a strong case for IDPs, who represent a compelling problem worthy of a serious and focussed response.
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