DISPLACED BY DEVELOPMENT: ANALYSIS ON THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE PRINCIPLE OF PERMANENT SOVEREIGNTY OVER NATURAL RESOURCES

The forced displacement of people, so frequent nowadays, can be analyzed from different aspects, from its motivation to the responsibility that it generates. Changes to the environment through large development projects promote the emergence of what is understood as the "displaced by development", a social cost that is undervalued comparing to the benefits of the economic gains. In order to analyze the reasons for that displacement, this paper aims at studying the principle of permanent sovereignty over natural resources as an important principle of International Law and it also aims at combining it to the evolution of the Right to Development, from an economistic perspective to a humanistic rationality. Highlighting these principles brings up the discussion of the legal status of those who become vulnerable in face of the development process: the displaced ones. The paper concludes that making their rights a core element can help putting into practice the ethical precepts of the development process for it to be seen as an opportunity for the expansion of human freedom.