Involuntary Resettlement and Indigenous Peoples:

¶ … Involuntary resettlement" and "indigenous peoples:" What is the nature of these two social problems? Are there appropriate measures in place to deal with them? Government, business, and international organizations all engage in development projects that result in the forced migration of indigenous peoples. The World Bank has led the way in establishing standards for appropriate compensation of indigenous peoples who are subject to involuntary resettlement. According to the Bank, "World Bank projects seek to avoid involuntary resettlement, but there are times when this is unavoidable.

If a Bank activity will entail involuntary resettlement of people, the project must follow the Bank's resettlement policy requirements" ("What we do," 2009). The Bank makes special provisions for the resettlement of indigenous peoples to ensure that they are resettled in an area where they can continue their traditional practices.

However, even with the Bank's ethical stipulations, resettlement issues remain problematic, given that many of these peoples lack traditional legal property ownership of the land on which their ancestors have lived for generations, and the difficulty of placing a price upon the cultural and emotional toll inherent to the process of resettlement. The Bank makes a stated commitment during any resettlement to the "restoration of incomes, the standards of living and the productivity levels of the affected persons" ("Key concepts," 2009).

All of the assets affected in the resettlement, including land and other properties such as houses, must be compensated to the equivalent amount "required to replace the asset in its existing condition" ("Key concepts," 2009). The Bank states that every effort is made to ensure that the people subject to resettlement are given the appropriate social tools to restore their ability to function economically and earn an income. However, the feasibility of full economic compensation is often problematic, given that no area is perfectly 'equivalent' to the place of origin.

Furthermore, the issue of cultural 'sustainability' arises, even if the World Bank provisions are an improvement upon the actions of many national governments in the past: environmentalists contend that both land and endangered animals should be preserved in the interests of sustaining an ecosystem.