ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the changing roles and responsibilities of the private sector engaged in infrastructure investments in developing countries that create involuntary population displacement and induce social, economic, cultural and political change. It aims to contribute to the ongoing debate about the human rights and social justice implications of business activities that impact directly on people who have the misfortune to live on land that is defined as having ‘development potential’. The chapter describes how the record on ‘official resettlement’, conducted under the auspices of World Bank, yielded few success stories; deepened impoverishment and social instability were the hallmarks of much resettlement in the second half of the 20th century. By privatising resettlement, governments are, to some extent, removed from two of their core responsibilities: poverty reduction and the protection of minorities. There is a particularly strong demand in relation to infrastructure development because of the serious human rights challenges that are clearly involved in displacement and involuntary resettlement.
