Compulsory Land Acquisition in Afghanistan: Does the Law Meet World Bank Standards on Involuntary Resettlement?

This paper examines how far Afghanistan’s Land Acquisition Law complies with standards required for World Bank financing of public interest projects that unavoidably extinguish or diminish existing land rights in the project area. For this purpose, the law was compared with standards laid down in World Bank ESS5 on Involuntary Settlement. Additional reference was made to ESS1 on social risk and impact assessment, and to ESS7, in regard to communities whose socio-culture and livelihoods rely distinctively and historically upon collectively-based tenure or land use.

The overall conclusion is that the Land Acquisition Law 2017, necessarily read with the Land Management Law 2017, provides a positive starting point for Bank and Government parties to work towards fair remedy in relevant projects. Significant positive legal provisions contribute. These range from obligation to pay compensation to affected persons prior to compulsory vacation of properties, transparent stipulation as to how residential, farm and business premises and structures will be compensated, to providing assisted relocation where whole communities are affected.