Special Rapporteur Stresses That Development Offers Livelihood Opportunities, but Can Also Lead to Displacement
Violent conflict, climate change, development-induced displacement and exacerbated inequity between the Global North and Global South render the right to development almost impossible to attain, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) heard today, as delegates also expressed concern over the vulnerability of displaced persons in Ukraine, Syria, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Mexico.

Among the six experts and mandate holders briefing the Committee, Cecilia Jimenez-Damary, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, noted that development can offer solutions to internal displacement by providing livelihood opportunities and access to essential services, but can also create displacement itself. Often associated with extractive projects with heavy environmental footprints, even infrastructure projects can lead to development-induced displacement, she said.

Though less well-known than displacement due to conflict and disaster, in all cases communities face the loss of their homes, their traditional livelihoods and access to basic services through development projects, she said, adding that women and indigenous peoples are particularly marginalized. Unlike displacement from conflict and disaster, development-induced displacement is entirely avoidable through implementation of development initiatives according toto States’ human rights commitments, she said.

In the following interactive dialogue, delegates condemned Moscow’s aggression in Ukraine, with the representative of Georgia recalling the Russian Federation’s occupation and ethnic cleaning in her country, and noting that over half a million displaced persons and refugees have been unable to return to their homes. The representative of Syria said his country does not suffer from development-induced displacement, but from terrorism, foreign occupation and unilateral sanctions, which impede human development.

Addressing trafficking in persons, especially women and children, Special Rapporteur Siobhán Mullally, said laws and policies on internal displacement and migration must specifically address States’ obligations to prevent such heinous acts. Adding that prevention programmes should recognize climate change as a cause of displacement and migration, she said people who move due to climactic events are at particular risk of exploitation, as traffickers may be more likely to target areas where livelihoods are affected by slow-onset climate change impacts.

She also stressed that climate-induced loss of livelihoods, income reduction or deterioration of working conditions in agriculture, particularly impact rural women, who may be exposed to trafficking. They may be trafficked for forced marriage, sexual exploitation, forced labour or domestic servitude at all migration stages in transit — in camps, at borders and in destination countries.

In the ensuing interactive dialogue, representatives of Belarus and the Russian Federation criticized Mullally’s report, with the latter taking issue with its politicized rhetoric and the former calling the recommendations extremely intrusive. The representative of China stressed that developed countries should uphold their commitments and provide technical and financial support for trafficking victims.

The representative of the United States stressed that systemic discrimination, gender inequalities, climate-related displacement and climate-related disasters are among the root causes of trafficking in persons. She highlighted the disproportionate impact of trafficking on indigenous communities, members of racial and marginalized communities as well as women and girls.

Along similar lines, the representative of Mexico said climate change has become a driver of migration and forced displacement, which exacerbates the vulnerability of women and girls to violence. Also briefing the committee today were the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and its consequences, Tomoya Obokata; the Chair-Rapporteur of the Inter-Governmental Working Group on the Right to Development, Zamir Akram; the Special Rapporteur on the right to development, Saad Alfarargi; and the Chair-Rapporteur of the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development, Mihir Kanade.

The Third Committee will reconvene at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 18 October, to continue its consideration of human rights.

Interactive Dialogues: Internally Displaced Persons

CECILIA JIMENEZ-DAMARY, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, called for an approach that views these people as agents rather than passive beneficiaries of assistance, and enables them to take control of their lives. She pointed to her advocacy work over the past six years that has been rooted in delivering humanitarian, development and peace efforts that support internally displaced persons in all types of internal displacement situations. Such an approach remains critical to the prevention of arbitrary displacement, as described in her report on the prevention of arbitrary displacement in the context of conflict and violence (A/76/169). A human rights-based approach is also critical to addressing neglected drivers of internal displacement, including the slow-onset adverse effects of climate change (A/75/207), and development-induced displacement (A/77/182).

She went on to underscore that development underpins solutions to internal displacement by providing livelihood opportunities, adequate standard of living, and access to essential services, all of which are necessary for return or settlement elsewhere to be a sustainable solution to internal displacement. However, development projects can also provoke internal displacement when communities are forced to move by a project developer or due to the negative impacts of development projects on their lives. While development-induced displacement is often associated with extractive projects that have heavy environmental footprints, even development projects with more benign aims can lead to displacement. Such displacement impedes affected communities’ ability to realize their human rights, she cautioned, noting that relatively little attention has been paid to this issue, as it falls outside the scope of humanitarian agencies that address displacement caused by conflict, violence, or disaster. Some argue that the label “development-induced” does not adequately capture the forced element of such displacement while other development actors prefer the term “involuntary resettlement” which optimistically emphasizes a solution that may never materialize — resettlement — and downplays the human rights challenges of displacement.

She drew attention to challenges associated with development-induced displacement: communities face the loss of their homes, their traditional livelihoods, and access to basic services. Due to absent consent-based relocation and compensation programmes to restore this access, development-induced displacement can therefore jeopardize the right to adequate housing, to livelihood, and to an adequate standard of living, she warned, adding that women and Indigenous peoples are particularly marginalized. In her report, she detailed structural challenges that contribute to development-induced displacement, including a lack of efforts to obtain the consent of affected communities to development projects with displacement impacts. She emphasized that development-induced displacement is entirely avoidable through implementation of development initiatives in accordance with States’ human rights commitments.

In the ensuing interactive dialogue, the representative of the European Union, speaking in its capacity as observer, said that the European Commission has allocated €1.40 billion ($1.47 billion) to initiatives related to forcibly displaced persons, including populations in Syria, Columbia, Iraq, Yemen and most recently Ukraine, which represents the largest crisis of displaced persons today. As displacement prevents access to human rights such as housing and even life, she asked what kind of legal and technical assistance the international community can provide to prevent development-induced displacement.

The representative of Austria, aligning with the European Union, condemned the unjustified, Russian Federation-led aggression on Ukraine, which has produced the largest forced displacement in the world. Recalling the mass-displacement following flooding in Pakistan this year, she asked what measures can be taken to support women who are disproportionately affected by displacement.

The representative of Georgia expressed regret that the number of forcibly displaced persons has climbed to a record high, surpassing 100 million. This includes over 18 million Ukrainians who have been forced from their homes as a result of Moscow’s premeditated and unprovoked full-scale aggression against Ukraine, she said. She recalled the Russian Federation’s occupation and ethnic cleansing in her country, lamenting that over half a million displaced persons and refugees have still not been allowed to return to their homes, contrary to the European Court of Human Rights’ judgment in Georgia v. Russia (II).

In a similar vein, the representative of Azerbaijan said that displaced persons must be able to return to their homes. Hosting one of the largest populations of internally displaced persons because of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, she outlined challenges in resettlement, including land mines and other explosive elements. She asked how the United Nations might better assist countries where there are such threats.

The representative of Myanmar said that the illegal military coup in 2021 in his country unleashed a wave of displacement, resulting in 1.30 million displaced persons. Women and children are particularly vulnerable, suffering from a lack of access to food and shelter, thus becoming a high risk for trafficking. Statements are not enough, he said, stressing that actions are needed to prevent circumstances leading up to displacement. He asked about ways the international community could be more effective in helping internally displaced persons return to their homes.

The representative of Ukraine condemned the displacement crisis in her country caused by the Russian Federation’s unprovoked aggression, detailing that 60 per cent of the general population has been displaced, with 60 per cent of that number women. “This crisis has a woman’s face,” she said, decrying a deliberate campaign to subdue and rape. Citing attacks killing civilians in Kyiv just yesterday, she stressed the psychological harm that displaced people are suffering and said that “the only way to stop is for Russia to stop its senseless and barbaric war”.

The representative of Syria asked what Ms. Jimenez-Damary’s point of view is on his country, which doesn’t suffer from development-induced displacement but from terrorism, foreign occupation, and unilateral sanctions. The situation impedes human development, he added, asking how best to deal with it.

The representative of Morocco highlighted the data gap, calling on States to share disaggregated data on internally displaced persons worldwide and develop a framework to conduct regular follow-up and evaluations to bolster the data. She asked how a special multilateral tool related to internally displaced persons would function.

In her response, Ms. JIMENEZ-DAMARY said that good practices evolve based on situations. Recalling that her report last year focused on how to prevent arbitrary detention during conflict and violence, she invited the Committee to review it. She noted that following the existing human-rights framework and respecting the rule of law provides solutions to internal displacement. Ensuring that internally displaced persons are actors in the creation of and have access to policies and legislation related to them is also important, she said. However, human rights violations are increasingly grave, in line with an increasing number of internally displaced persons, she said. To that end, solutions must be multi-stakeholder and start with preventing root causes of internal displacement, especially arbitrary displacement, in those countries. “We must respond to and recognize the causes of each displacement,” she said, whether they are due to climate change, conflict, or development.

She underlined that one single agency cannot solve the problem of internally displaced persons, commending the Internally Displaced Protection Expert Group, composed of former Special Rapporteurs, for their work across agencies as well as the Interagency Standing Committee. Referring to Morocco’s statement, she underscored the need for data to provide solutions for internally displaced persons, as conflict, violence and even climate change were only on the agenda because of data pointing to that need. One issue that needs more data is that of human rights and environmental defenders, many of whom are indigenous, being killed because they resist development initiatives that they don’t support, she said.

Also speaking in the dialogue were representatives of Cameroon, Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Algeria, Russian Federation, Switzerland, Mexico and Norway. An observer for the Sovereign Order of Malta also spoke.

Trafficking in Persons

SIOBHÁN MULLALLY, Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, introduced her report addressing the gender dimensions of trafficking in persons, in the context of climate change, climate related displacement and disasters (A/77/170). She stressed the need to focus on visible sudden-onset disasters and also on slow-onset ones as causes for augmented risks of trafficking in persons, adding that people living in poverty are more negatively affected by climate change. Laws and policies on internal displacement and migration must specifically address States’ obligations to prevent trafficking in persons, she said, adding that prevention programmes should recognize climate change as a cause of displacement and migration. Noting that such recognition is currently missing in policies, she said people who move due to climate change are particularly at risk of exploitation, adding that traffickers may be more likely to target areas where livelihoods are affected by slow-onset climate change impacts. “Of continuing urgent concern is the absence of a general right of admission for people who are forcibly displaced as a result of climate change,” she said. Pointing to the recent report of the High-level Panel on Internal Displacement, she spotlighted the risks of child trafficking linked to school drop-outs, recruitments by gangs or armed groups and forced marriages.

She also noted that climate-induced loss of livelihoods, income reduction or deterioration of working conditions in agriculture, particularly impact rural women, who may be exposed to trafficking, including for forced marriage, sexual exploitation, forced labour or domestic servitude at all migration stages ‑ in transit, in camps, at borders and in destination countries. Stressing that more than 500 million children live in areas, mostly in Asia, that have extremely high likelihoods of flooding, and about 115 million live in zones of high or extremely high risk of tropical cyclones, she said children may be particularly at risk due to climate-related displacement and disasters, owing to separation from families and communities and the breakdown of child protection services. In addition, she underscored the vulnerability of persons with disabilities; how constraints imposed on decision-making and situations of dependency may limit mobility, increasing risks of human rights violations; and the risk of exploitation and discrimination indigenous peoples face.

In the ensuing interactive dialogue, the representative of the United States stressed that systemic discrimination, gender inequalities, climate-related displacement and climate-related disasters are among the root causes of trafficking in persons. Highlighting the disproportionate impact of trafficking on Indigenous communities, members of racial and marginalized communities, women and girls, and migrants, she asked the Special Rapporteur about specific measures that can be taken by Governments to prevent trafficking in these communities and protect survivors in the context of climate change.

Along similar lines, the representative of Mexico said climate change has become a driver of migration and forced displacement which exacerbate the vulnerability of women and girls to violence. She proceeded to ask how States can involve the private sector and civil society to prevent trafficking in women and girls who are forced into displacement as a result of climate change.

The representative of Bangladesh stressed the importance of addressing the root causes, supporting victims, and prosecuting traffickers. As a climate-vulnerable country, Bangladesh has taken significant initiatives to internal displacement issues, he noted, asking about the risk of trafficking of refugees and asylum seekers, particularly the Rohingya communities in Myanmar.

The representative of Côte d’Ivoire warned that climate change results in displacement of people, worsening of existing inequalities, poverty, and racism. To rectify the issue, he urged States to use all available international instruments and called for greater support to the Special Rapporteur.

The representative of China, highlighting the link between climate change and human trafficking, stressed that developed countries should uphold their obligations and provide financial and technical support.

The representative of Australia underlined that gender inequalities increase the risk of persons being trafficked. Understanding the linkages between gender inequalities and trafficking in persons is crucial for effective survivor-centred approaches, she said, stressing the importance of reducing the vulnerability of women and children to trafficking in the wake of disasters.

Meanwhile, the representative of the Russian Federation called on the Special Rapporteur to stay within her mandate and avoid duplication of the activity conducted by other special procedures and mechanisms. He called the recommendations in her report “extremely intrusive”. The operations conducted by the European Union in the Mediterranean to counter human trafficking with the use of force is characterized by its obvious failure and violations of human rights, he underscored, pointing to high mortality at high seas of those who end up in the hands of human traffickers. The organized human trafficking in the Mediterranean is the consequence of the aggressive Western invasion into and destruction of Libya.

Echoing his concerns, the representative of Belarus expressed disappointment at the content of Ms. Mullally’s report as well as her politicized rhetoric which is openly provocative and not in line with the terminology of the main international instruments. He put forward a request for the Special Rapporteur to use her unquestionable authority for the practical aspect of the issue of trafficking in persons.

Responding, Ms. MULLALLY recognized the role of women and girls as agents of change and called for survivor-centred approaches to trafficking in persons. She called for an end to the war in Ukraine as it poses a serious risk of trafficking in persons, particularly for sexual exploitation. Digital technologies play a role in the prevention of trafficking in persons, she noted, stressing the importance of accountability through strengthened investigation measures and fact-finding. On rural and urban migration, she said access to social protection without discrimination must be ensured. She also underscored the importance of strengthened child protection mechanisms to ensure child protection without disturbance and called for humanitarian pathways for those who are forcibly displaced. She highlighted the key role of rural women in designing responses to climate change, strengthening land ownership, and ending gender discrimination. To effectively prevent trafficking of persons for all purposes, support in form of planned relocation, humanitarian admissions and pathways to resident status must be provided. Moreover, she stressed the importance of an enabling environment for civil society as well as the protection of human rights defenders, including those who were trafficked persons.

Also speaking were representatives of Luxembourg, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Greece, Malaysia, Ireland, Belgium, Qatar, Romania and Germany (associating with the European Union). An observer for the Sovereign Order of Malta and the representative of the European Union, in its capacity as observer, also spoke.

Source: United Nation