ABSTRACT
In the aftermath of natural and man-made disasters, two major tasks emerge, the repatriation and resettlement of temporarily homeless persons (in the case of natural disasters) or internally displaced persons and refugees (in the case of man-made disasters), and the reconstruction of the basic infrastructure and the economy of the disaster zone. It is important to emphasize that besides the first two groups of displaced persons, there is also a third one - development oustees. They are the result of involuntary population displacement (Cemea, 1996). For the purpose of this article, this third category will not be handled. In standard development literature, the body of research that most closely applies to war-tom societies is the work devoted to how societies recover from natural disasters. Indeed, specialists in this field are now beginning to treat man-made disasters as they do war; and massive refugee flows and other induced population movements as a part of the disaster field. Following natural or man-made disasters, it is essential that lending institutions and donors respond rapidly, and are flexible in their criteria for disbursing aid. In both instances, if they are not sensitively handled and monitored, relief may be diverted to purposes for which it was not intended. It may distort local economies, produce dependency, strengthen the economic power of the already powerful and bring about other negative impacts (Fagen, 1994).
