Connecting Tenure Security with Durable Solutions to Internal Displacement: From Restitution of Property Rights to the Right to Adequate Housing
| Date | 01 August 2016 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12244 |
| Author | Patricia García Amado |
| Published date | 01 August 2016 |
Connecting Tenure Security with Durable
Solutions to Internal Displacement: From
Restitution of Property Rights to the Right to
Adequate Housing
Patricia Garc
ıa Amado*
ABSTRACT
The end of displacement is a main goal of international peacebuilding strategies, with increas-
ing financial and human resources committed to it. Nevertheless, protracted internal displace-
ment remains unabated, necessitating a review of the responses provided thus far. Durable
solutions to internal displacement require a safe, permanent and secure place to settle, which
puts security of tenure at the centre of any sustainable option. This article emphasizes the lim-
ited understanding of the factors that contribute to secure tenure as one of the main flaws in a
predominantly legal approach to the right to restitution and the right to adequate housing in
responses to internal displacement. It calls for the design of contextualized and inclusive strate-
gies to align the de jure,de facto and perception dimensions of tenure security to support the
sustainable settlement of internally displaced persons as well as the construction of peace.
INTRODUCTION
Since the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement were published in 1998, the awareness of
the situation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and the resources and policies aimed at their
assistance have multiplied. The achievement of durable solutions to displacement has subsequently
become a key goal of international peacebuilding strategies, mainly through the sustainable return
to areas of origin (UNSC, 2009). However, the number of IDPs affected by protracted displacement
is not decreasing. Over 16 million people have been internally displaced for an average of
20 years, often settling in urban areas (Long, 2011).
Durable solutions are described as a stage where IDPs “no longer have any specific assistance
and protection needs that are linked to their displacement and can enjoy their human rights with-
out discrimination on account of their displacement”(UNHRC, 2009). To end displacement, IDPs
have the right to make a free and informed choice over their settlement options –return, integration
or resettlement. The three solutions are based on the requirement of finding a safe, permanent and
secure place to live, and this puts security of tenure at the centre of any sustainable option. Never-
theless, this goal seems elusive, even for the IDPs who were able to regain control over their for-
mer properties through restitution processes.
The decisions concerning settlement in the aftermath of war have an impact on the construction
of peace at a local level and are, at the same time, determined by peacebuilding strategies and
* University of Deusto, Bilbao
Patricia Garc
ıa Amado is a researcher at the Instituto de Derechos Humanos under a FPI fellowship.
doi: 10.1111/imig.12244
©2016 The Author
International Migration ©2016 IOM
International Migration Vol. 54 (4) 2016
ISS N 00 20- 7985 Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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