NRC: From Shelter to Housing - Security of Tenure and Integration in Protracted Displacement Settings

Since the early 1990s humanitarians have called attention to the importance of rights to housing, land and property (HLP) in providing durable solutions for both internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees. In recent years, attention has shifted from well-established principles on the restitution of pre-displacement homes and lands to situations of protracted displacement, in which unresolved conflicts rule out both restitution and voluntary return. Even in settings in which the full range of durable solutions can be exercised, many displaced persons opt for local integration rather than return and reintegration in their places of origin. In both cases, this has led to emergence of a new set of HLP issues related to legal security of tenure at the site where displaced people take refuge. The concept of security of tenure involves legal protection against forced evictions, harassment and other threats to residents and users of property, whether or not they own it.

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