Guidance for Practitioners
data on different types of rights to land, and is this data correlated with the existing information on persons killed or displaced? What formal or customary mechanisms exist to secure the land rights of orphans? Do vulnerable groups lack proof of personal identity, or was their documentation damaged or destroyed in the disaster? Do legal procedures relating to documentation and inheritance discriminate against poor and vulnerable groups? Are there discriminatory barriers to access to justice for poor and vulnerable groups? 4.2.2 Standards on protection of land left behind by displaced persons
Displacement gives rise to risks of looting, destruction and appropriation of land, particularly in countries with weak land governance systems where: • A significant proportion of the affected population has informal land rights; • Land records and data are incomplete, inaccurate or out-of-date, or have been destroyed by the hazard; • Government capacity to enforce property rights and the rule of law is weak; • Poor and vulnerable groups face disproportionate obstacles to protecting their land through formal institutions; and • Institutional corruption and legal uncertainty facilitates landgrabbing by socially powerful groups. The risks of looting is greatest in the immediate aftermath of the disaster when law enforcement or land administration officials are absent and existing systems are in a state of chaos. The risks of wrongful appropriation of land may emerge over time as a result of:
“Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.” “No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.” Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Art. 17.
“Property and possessions left behind by internally displaced persons should be protected against destruction and arbitrary and illegal appropriation, occupation or use.” UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, Principle 21
• Opportunistic actions by neighbors, relatives or outside speculators who take advantage of people with weak or insecure rights to land; • Unjustified declarations by government – sometimes in alliance with commercial developments – that certain areas are unsafe for house reconstruction; or • Occupation by other individuals or groups seeking shelter and livelihoods after a disaster. Immediately after a disaster, humanitarian actors should encourage relevant authorities to take necessary measures against looting, destruction and wrongful appropriation of land left behind by displaced persons. These actions can include official statements that rights to land will be protected, and support to community-based groups in monitoring and documenting land and house occupations. Every effort should be made to locate transitional shelters close to predisaster homes to facilitate protection of land by displaced persons themselves. Transparent and participatory community mobilization techniques can also be effective mechanisms to protect land left 61