ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the particular experience of people displaced in the context of the 2017 flood that affected Gaibandha district in the north of the country, with a specific focus on Fulchhari upazila. It takes particular note of the situation of persons with disabilities. The chapter focuses on a study of the role of law and policy in addressing displacement, as the country’s Persons with Disabilities Rights and Protection Act 2013 articulates concrete duties and commitments on the part of the state to respect, protect, and fulfil the rights of persons with disabilities. It outlines the relevant legal and policy framework before considering how this framework was applied in the context of flood-related displacement in 2017. The government of Bangladesh has developed a variety of programmes, schemes, actions, and plans to respond to disaster risk, which adopt a more needs-based, rather than human rights-based, approach.
