ABSTRACT
This chapter explores some commonalities and differences between the situation of refugees from unanticipated natural disasters or political events, and of groups displaced by planned developments. It considers the causal agents of internal population displacement, provides an overview of some emergency projects that have assisted internal refugees, and describes some key lessons from this assistance. The chapter discusses several issues common to both refugees and oustees, the magnitude of dislocations induced by planned development interventions, and the policy framework that must guide development interventions causing displacement. It focuses on internal rather than on international refugees; this facilitates comparison with people displaced by development projects who, typically, also tend to remain within national borders. The conceptual distinction between internal and transborder refugees is far from being of strictly academic concern: it is consequential for resource allocation and assistance strategies.
