In-Depth Report | Planned Relocation in Asia: A Regional Snapshot

By Erica Bower & Sanjula Weerasinghe

Across Asia, disasters and climate change impacts have had, and will continue to have, profound effects on people and the places they call home. As governments and communities search for safer places with secure livelihood options for people, planned relocations are becoming increasingly salient. Yet despite the growing attention to planned relocation at the international and regional levels, knowledge and data gaps remain. A recent global mapping by the Platform on Disaster Displacement (PDD) and the Andrew & Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at the University of New South Wales, Leaving Place, Restoring Home, and its dataset of over 300 planned relocation cases, identified 160 cases in the Asia region. This snapshot, commissioned by GIZ, draws on the cases identified in Asia to shine a spotlight on notable characteristics and insights that emerge in this regional context.