Paper short abstract:

This paper presents a case study on resettlements made by the mining company Vale in Mozambique, between 2006/2011. It analyses how this process affected the resettled population’s quality of life. Cultural identity and survival strategies deteriorated, despite of improvements in basic living conditions.

Paper long abstract:

The combination of increasing population and expansion of needs imposed by consumer society has triggered an increase in the number of projects such as roads, dams and mines. Many of these projects lead to the displacement of populations which, voiceless, are taken to other locations through forced resettlements, thus becoming "development refugees".

In region of Tete, Mozambique, the discovery of one of the largest reserves of coal has led to a mass resettlement process that has affected thousands of people and will continue in the next years.

The World Bank contends that it should be ensured that resettled populations have their living conditions improved. The current paper analyses, trough quality of life indicators, the resettlement made by the mining company Vale in Moatize, Tete province, between the years of 2006 and 2011.

Although it is still very early to tell whether the quality of life will improve or worsen in the future, certain results can be identified at present. On one hand, progress was registered in some basic living conditions such as education, health or access to water and energy. On the other hand, there were deteriorations in the level of cultural identity of the population and in their survival strategies - which is reflected today in the impoverishment of some families and in the feeling, by part of the population, of living as guests and of the new neighbourhood not belonging to them.