protest

South Korea: Gadeok Airport environmental, viability, safety and relocation concerns, and Airport City plans

Rose Bridger Special Economic Zones , , , , , , , ,

Construction of a major new airport on Gadeok Island, a government-driven project, is imminent despite concerns over economic viability, technical feasibility, safety, relocation of residents and environmental impacts. A proposed airport city complex would support airport operations and might be designated as a free economic zone.

Gadeok Airport City, Free Economic Zone graphic
Left: Airport City Free Economic Zone development plan. Graphic: Busan Metropolitan City, Seoul Economic Daily. Right: Satellite imagery of Gadeok (Gadeokdo) Island dated 16/01/2026, showing areas impacted by Gadeok Airport and Airport City.

Gadeok Airport City plans

On 26th August 2026 the Busan City government released a draft designation plan and environmental impact assessment for Gadeok Airport City free economic zone, aligned with the master plan for Gadeok Airport. A graphic showed the new airport site on the south of Gadeok Island, with the runway extending eastwards into the sea, and the main Airport City sites to the north and on the west coast of the island. The city said public briefings on the Airport City would be held between the 7th and 23rd September and that, following deliberation and a decision by the Free Economic Zone Committee it aimed to finalise the development plan in 2027. If the Airport City is designated as a free economic zone, tax incentives and deregulation to attract international aviation and logistics firms are expected and there are plans for immediate commencement of compensation for land acquisition and construction. A comprehensive plan for the Gadeok airport city complex announced in August 2024 specified approximately 998 hectares of development on three areas: logistics facilities in Nucha, tourism and leisure facilities in Cheonseong and a renewable energy hub in Dumun. A ‘car-free, eco-friendly, pedestrian oriented city’ is promised with a large lake park and a pedestrian park running north-south and east-west. But these are just superficial features of an airport city development primarily designed to support airport operations.

A special bill, opposition and protest

Plans for a major new airport in South Korea’s southeastern region first emerged in 2006, only to be repeatedly shelved due to feasibility concerns. After a November 2020 state committee decision that a proposal to expand the existing Gimhae Airport (30 kilometres northeast of Gadeok Island) was unfeasible, for safety and environmental reasons and lack of local government representation in the process, bids to site a new airport on Gadeok Island and the city of Miryang came to the fore. The Democratic Party, (DP) having a large majority in the National Assembly, has been promoting the former. Then, in March 2021, the National Assembly passed a special bill supporting construction of a new airport on Gadeok Island. Passing of the bill allows construction of the airport to bypass several obstacles, including a normally compulsory preliminary feasibility study to determine viability before embarking on the project. A large majority voted in favour of the special bill, but opposition parties and some DP legislators criticised the government and DP for rushing the bill, passing it only three months after it was proposed. An assessment by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport was sceptical about the project and residents and environmentalists expressed concerns over risks to endangered otters. On 30th June 2021, as DP leader Song Young-gil toured the proposed site, a gathering of local residents protested against construction of the airport.

A U$10.97 billion offshore airport

A detailed plan released on 26th April 2022 specified an airport solely for international flights, forecast to handle 23.36 million passengers and 286,000 tonnes of cargo per year by 2065. It would be the country’s first offshore airport, partially built on an artificial island on reclaimed land, requiring an enormous budget of KRW13.7 trillion (U$10.97 billion) and commencing operations in June 2035. Some regional lawmakers said the airport plan would require an even larger budget and longer time frame, adding to the ongoing doubts about the economic viability and concerns over the environmental impacts. Government plans for a free trade zone surrounding the site, intending to develop an international logistics hub, were already in the works. Three days after the release of the plan, on 29th April 2022, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said the government would forgo a feasibility study for the new airport and begin construction in the second half of 2025. Criticism of the airport project was increasing and a group of environmental activists held a protest demanding that the plan be scrapped.

Gadeokdo New Airport Construction Corporation was established on 25th April 2024 to oversee development of the airport. On 5th November 2024 members of a civil society organisation opposing the airport held a press conference in front of Busan city hall, calling on the government to cancel construction plans and denouncing the no-bid development contract that had been awarded to a consortium led jointly by Daewoo E&C and POSCO E&C. Yu Jeong-whon, professor of transportation systems engineering at Ajou University, argued in an article published by Korea JoongAng Daily that Gadeok Airport was being driven by politics, not policy, with passing of the special law supporting the airport, dismissing economic viability and technical feasibility concerns, eroding trust in the government. The cost could rise and the construction period increase to nine years. Despite the huge project cost and significance there had been very little deliberation involving citizens. Building the airport on soft marine sediment would necessitate massive ground reinforcement. The bird strike risk would be high due to the site’s proximity to the Nakdong River estuary, northeast of Gadeok Island, which is a major bird migration route. Fog and high wind speeds could also compromise flight safety.

 On 5th July 2025, two days after a snap election brought in a new DP administration, the Busan government stepped up the drive to develop the new airport, announcing commencement of negotiations on compensation for land and properties within the proposed site and aiming to transfer ownership to the government by the end of the year. Kim Byeong-kwon, director of Busan’s airport planning division, said, “The total number of items for compensation, including land and structures, is over 1,000.” The site contained 68 land parcels covering 37 hectares and the relocating process would affect 378 households. Busan city and the DP announced an extension of the construction timescale from six years to seven years.

Relocation anxieties

The following month Gadeok residents spoke of their anxieties over looming displacement for the airport. A total of 672 residents of three villages – Daehang, Saebaji and Oehaengpo (Oeyangpo) – were facing displacement. A 77 year old woman who had settled in Gadeok in the 1970s and run a small supermarket for 40 years was tearful and having difficulties sleeping due to rapid progress of the airport project and uncertainty over where to relocate to. Banners in Daehang village displayed slogans criticising the airport project and demanding relocation measures. Residents were anxious about the lack of clear answers from the Gadeokdo New Airport Construction Corporation which is in charge of relocation and that they might only receive compensation money rather than land or dwellings. The head of the Daehang Fishing Village Association said that in two years of meetings with the corporation relocation measures had not been mentioned. Dissatisfaction with compensation for land taken for development project is common and in Gadeok these concerns were intensified by claims that land prices had not risen in the 20 years of proposals and plans for the airport. On 3rd July 2025 residents holding a rally in front of Daehang breakwater demanded relocation measures and protested the compensation offer. A representative of the Daehang compensation committee demanded formalisation of relocation measures, including support for livelihoods, that had been omitted from the plan.

Lawsuit calls for cancellation

By September 2025 a lawsuit calling for cancellation of the airport master plan, filed by about 1,000 members of Action Against the Promotion of the Gadeokdo New Airport, was heading towards it fourth reading. The lawsuit stated that the site was unsuitable for an airport, having received a less favourable evaluation than alternatives in Gimhae and Miryang, and Gadeok’s natural environment and cultural value should be preserved. Attention to the opposition to Gadeok Airport had been heightened by the 11th 2025 September Seoul Administrative Court ruling cancelling the Saemangeum International Airport project, based on inadequate review of environmental factors, most pertinently the risks to tidal flats and of bird strikes. While the estimate of the likely number of bird strikes was lower for Gadeok Airport than Saemangeum Airport it was higher than Incheon Airport or Gimpo Airport, and some thought that collisions with seabirds around Gadeok’s coastal site, larger and flying at higher altitudes, were a more serious threat to flight safety. Arguments that too many new airports – ten planned and under constriction – were being pursued came from within the aviation and construction industries.

Delay, cost dispute and cost escalation

In November 2025 the government extended the Gadeok Airoprt construction period again, from seven years to ten years and eight months; the completion date was pushed back from 2032 to 2035. Calls for evaluation of the project site risks continued. Land reclamation would be a gargantuan task as the soft layer of ground beneath the site is 50-metres thick and typhoons causing 12 metre high waves would pose risks during construction and operations. In comparison, Incheon Airport was constructed on a soft ground layer one quarter of the thickness and ocean waves are only a third of this height. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced finalisation of the basic design for Gadeok Airport site development on 7th September 2026. The design, prepared by the Daewoo E&C led consortium, will be reviewed by the Central Construction Technology Deliberation Committee. If the basic design is approved construction of the priority section of the airport is due to start in November 2026 with works on the main project anticipated to begin during the first half of 2027. A further project cost escalation is possible. Daewoo E&C requested a KRW620 billion (US$463,860) total project cost increase, citing increasing costs of fuel and materials caused by conflict in the Middle East. Daewoo E&C is benefiting from the airport even before construction begins; the firm’s shares surged by 12% on the day the Gadeok Airport basic design was finalised and it submitted its documents, and by a further 9% on the following day.

Iraq: Radwaniyah residents protest displacement for Baghdad Financial and Economic City

Rose Bridger land rights , , , , , , , ,

Residents of Radwaniyah, an agricultural area south of Baghdad International Airport, protested allocation of a large land area for Baghdad Financial and Economic City, also referred to a Al-Rafeel City, demanding a halt to planning and construction activities and a comprehensive audit of the investment contract.

Radwaniyah is south of Baghdad International Airport
Radwaniyah is an agricultural area south of Baghdad International Airport. Aerial imagery: 22/11/2025 and 07/04/2026

On 30th May 2026 a major protest erupted in the Radwaniyah district, an agricultural area south of Baghdad International Airport, over government plans to hand over large areas of land surrounding the airport to foreign firms. Local residents and community leaders gathered to issue an urgent call for protection of their property rights and ancestral territories from corporate appropriation. The area allocated for development encompasses land belonging to families who have lived on it for many generations. Ayad al-Jubouri, a Member of Parliament, called on Prime Minister Ali Falih al-Zaidi to suspend the investment licence and stop an administrative decree that could lead to forcible displacement of more than 120,000 residents. He said local residents would “prefer death over surrendering their lands”. Protesters demanded a halt to planning and construction activities until verification of the investment contract by a comprehensive legal and administrative audit. The protest followed several critical statements by al-Jubouri, most recently alleging serious corruption orchestrated by the National Investment Commission (NIC) which, he said, had granted an investment licence to an Egyptian firm, giving the developer more than 580 hectares of valuable Radwaniyah real estate for construction of Al-Rafeel, a large residential project.

TMG investment contract and land bank

The day after the protest, 1st June, one of Egypt’s largest real estate development companies, Talaat Moustafa Group Holding (TMG), announced receipt of an investment licence from the NIC for its subsidiary Talaat Moustafa Company Baghdad for development of an ‘integrated urban community’ southwest of Baghdad. TMG also secured a large land bank of 1,280 hectares for the project, ‘strategically located within Baghdad Financial and Economic city’ with direct connectivity to key administrative and financial districts. Infrastructure costs are to be met by investors who are expected to reap significant returns. The project is anticipated to generate about $18.8 billion in sales and annual revenues of approximately $108 million from leasing and hospitality upon completion of the 16-year development period. In addition to approximately 43,000 residential units to accommodate 250,000 residents the project master plan includes about 230 hectares of retail and commercial assets including a ‘regional mall’, offices, administrative space, religious and civic facilities, sports and social club, entertainment venues, parks and green space. Company headquarters, offices and large warehouses will be relocated from central Baghdad, one of the most heavily congested cities in the Middle East, to the new city.

Land ownership and MoU

In the days preceding the protest the NIC emphasised the legitimacy of the new financial and economic city, stating that the project is part of the urban planning framework and consistent with the Baghdad 2030 Comprehensive Development Plan. The NIC stated that the land is government-owned, by the Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Finance and that occupation of the Ministry of Transport land ‘constitutes an unlawful encroachment’ while the Ministry of Finance Land had been transferred to the NIC. Agricultural contracts on the land were declared legally void on the basis that plots had been converted to commercial purposes, The NIC also stated that the Ministry of Resources had confirmed that continued zoning as agricultural land would be unworkable as there is no existing or planned allocation of water for the land designated for the new city. Six months previously, in November 2025 a TMG delegation led by Chairman Hisham Talaat Moustafa had met with then Prime Minster Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani for discussions focused on Al-Rafeel Economic City. Moustafa reviewed progress on the project and affirmed TMG’s commitment to advancing it in accordance with the implementation framework. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) for Al-Rafeel Economic City between TMG and the NIC was signed in May 2025 and the agreement includes participation from Saudi Arabia-based Al Muhaidib Group, one of the largest investment groups in the Middle East. The MoU signing ceremony was attended by Mohammed Al Sudani, Hisham Talaat Moustafa and NIC Chairman Haider Makiya and Al-Muhaidib Group.Chairman Suleiman bin Abdul Qader. At this juncture the project was described as spanning 1,400 hectares with about 46,000 residential and mixed-use units.

Land allocation in 2021, forced evictions in 2019

The Council of Ministers approved allocation of 106,000 acres (42,897 hectares) of land in the area surrounding Baghdad Intl. Airport to the NIC to oversee construction of the ‘Al-Rafael’ city project on 15th June 2021, envisaging a new administrative capital similar to counterparts in some neighbouring countries. NIC Chairwoman Suha Daoud Najjar outlined four phases of development, the first providing housing for 300,000 people along with commercial, educational, medical and recreational complexes on 16,000 acres (6,475 hectares). Plans for the second phase included industrial and logistics projects adjacent to the airport and third phase plans were described as ‘environmentally friendly agricultural and food projects’. A fourth phase would be located northwest of the airport in the Abu Ghraib district. Evictions from land surrounding Baghdad Intl. Airport pre-date the 2021 announcement of Al Rafeel city. In July 2019 Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor condemned the seizure of thousands of acres of land near the airport for UAE-based commercial and real estate investment firm Daico International Holdings and other investment firms, following orders issued by the NIC. The report stated that the eviction and forced displacement without compensation violated Article One of the Iraqi Constitution, which safeguards private property and of Article Two which affirms that expropriation is only permitted if it is in the public interest and people are fairly compensated. People affected by the land seizure included a man from eastern Radwaniyah who was told to vacate his 20 acres of land for a businessman said to be close to NIC. Fear of retaliation, in the form of forced displacement or imprisonment, deterred him from taking his grievance to court.

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DR Congo: Evictions and demolitions for Mbuji-Mayi Airport rehabilitation and expansion

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About 800 houses were demolished to make way for rehabilitation and expansion of Mbuji-Mayi Airport. Many affected people said compensation did not match the real value of their land plots.

Aerial imagery of Mbuji-Mayi Airport, 17th June 2023Aerial imagery of Mbuji-Mayi Airport, 19th May 2025
Aerial imagery shows changes to the northern section of Mbuji-Mayi Airport between June 2023 and May 2025. In addition to runway works, roads have been widened and buildings next to the airport demolished and replaced with fast-growing vegetation.

Rehabilitation of Mbuji-Mayi Airport, located in the northeast of the city of Mbuji-Mayi, the capital of the Kasai-Oriental Province in south central DR Congo, is part of the Priority Air Safety Project – Phase 2 (PPSA 2) project financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB). Project components include runway extension, construction of aircraft parking aprons, control tower and works to improve aviation safety. AfDB’s 2018 Summary Environmental and Social Management Plans (ESMP) noted that the project area consists of neighbourhoods situated near the airport with dwellings and agricultural plots on the site; some activities including runway extension were postponed to enable studies and mobilisation of funding for involuntary resettlement. In February 2021 the mayor of Mbuji-Mayi set up a commission to identify all affected people who would be evicted, then in March he made reassurances that state obligations for the eviction of people who had built and rented houses would be followed.

Bulldozing of unauthorised buildings around Mbuji-Mayi Airport began on 7th November 2022. The airport project necessitated displacement of approximately 800 households but compensation of affected people was suspended in October 2023 because the census was inadequate and the process had not been accepted by all the residents with some continuing to resist. People whose land was expropriated began receiving compensation cheques on 13th October yet some voiced concerns about finding a new site, the compensation amount and demanded more transparency and guarantees regarding their property rights.

On 21st October 2023 residents whose land was expropriated for the airport project demonstrated in the street denouncing insufficient compensation, burning tyres at two road junctions before police attempted, unsuccessfully, to disperse them. An emergency meeting failed to reach an agreement satisfactory to plot owners who were given a 15-day ultimatum to relocate after receipt of compensation. In February 2024, as works at Mbuji-Mayi Airport were underway, owners of nearly 800 houses on the site were given two weeks’ notice to dismantle their homes. Occupants maintained that the compensation offer did not match the value of their assets.

On 17th July 2024 the mayor of Mbuji-Mayi announced imminent demolition of houses built on the airport site, in the name of expropriation for public purposes. Plot owners had been given tokens for replacement land on the outskirts of Mbuji-Mayi but had not vacated or demolished their houses; 800 families still contested expropriation due to lack of recognition of the market value of their plots. A delegation of residents living around the airport requested protection and support from the provincial authority and respect for expropriation law as recognised in the constitution.

Early on the morning of 29th October 2024 demolition of houses east of Mbuji-Mayi Airport, between Zaire and Dodoma avenues, began. Heavy machinery was escorted by police, as owners of the buildings demanded compensation matching the real value of their property. All their efforts, including marches, sit-in protest and suicide threats, had not dissuaded the government from expropriating the land plots. On the instructions of the president of DRC, Félix Tshisekedi, Minister of Social Affairs, Humanitarian Action and Solidarity, Nathalie Aziza Munana, visited Mbuji-Mayi on 10th November to investigate the demolition of 800 houses near the airport, collect information about evictions and meet with victims and civil society organisations. Minister of Justice, Constant Mutamba, said he had been contacted by several citizens who had not yet received the compensation they were promised, raising suspicions of misappropriation of funds allocated for this purpose.

For more information including references for all source material and photos see the case study on EJAtlas, the world’s largest, most comprehensive online database of social conflict around environmental issues – Mbuji-Mayi Airport rehabilitation, DRC

Puerto Rico: Resisting Esencia, a luxury tourism and residential development with a private airport

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Many local and diaspora organisations are opposing Esencia, a luxury tourism and residential megaproject with a private airport, in Cabo Rojo. The development has been granted generous tax credits and would require vast volumes of water.

In May 2024 two real estate firms, Reuben Brothers and Three Rules Capital, filed a master plan for Esencia, a USD2billion development in Boquerón Bay, Cabo Rojo on the west coast of Puerto Rico. Anchored by international hotel operators Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, Aman Group and Rosewood Hotels and Resorts and containing up to 500 luxury hotel rooms and 900 tourist residences the complex would have a private airport. The Esencia website says the new ‘residential and hospitality community’ will have 3 miles (4.8km) of ‘pristine beachfront’. Plans also included two golf courses, spa, wellnesses centre, health clubs, equestrian centre, hiking and biking trails and a school.

Project Esencia proposed plan
The proposed Esencia plan, with sea views and a private airport, includes luxury hotels and residences and two golf courses. Image source: Reuben Brothers

The Esencia project was granted more than USD497 million in tax credits and in August 2024 four new tax exemptions of between 90 and 100 per cent were approved. A new decree granting 100 per cent fuel tax exemption for tourism-related activities was criticised for incentivising high levels of fossil fuel usage. Comité por la Verdadera Esencia del Suroeste sent statements to multimedia platform Marea Ecologista concerning the proximity of the project site to protected ecologically sensitive areas providing habitats for endangered birds such as the Puerto Rican nightjar. Responding to the absence of public hearings on permits and boundary demarcation for the Esencia project a town hall was convened by local community, environmental and cultural groups on 28th September 2024 where further detail of Esencia project components, including shopping malls and renovation of an airstrip to accommodate small aircraft, was shared.

The land within the site is rural and falls under two classifications. One category is rural land protected because of its ecological importance as it is located between two nature reserves and serves as a corridor for many species and also for its recreational value. The second category is rural land where there is more flexibility regarding development and in recent years mechanisms to evade compliance with the land use plan have been deployed such as declaring projects to be strategic or of critical importance. The project area contains at least 24 archaeological sites from the colonial and pre-colonial eras, many of which have not yet been explored.

On the first day of public hearings in March 2025 Cabo Rojo’s streets were filled with protesters holding posters and banners, many declaring ‘No to Esencia’ and calling the project an enclave for a small number of billionaires. The hall was not big enough to accommodate all the people opposing the project so many watched the proceedings on a screen in a tent outside. Puerto Rican groups opposing the project joined forces under the slogans ‘Defend Cabo Rojo’ and ‘No to Esencia’. The anti-Esencia movement gained support from Puerto Rican diaspora and pro-independence organisations, amplifying locals’ calls for cancellation of the project and holding protests throughout New York. For example, protesters occupied the lobby of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and unfurled banners in the luxurious Columbus Circle shopping mall.

Officials said the project’s environmental impact statement (EIS) did not address the impacts on infrastructure and ecosystems and lacked hydrological studies. Esencia would place additional strain on water supplies, consuming more than 1.25 million gallons per day, a volume equal to more than a third of current consumption in the Cabo Rojo Municipality. This is a low estimate as it does not include the project proposal’s two golf courses which would increase the volume of water consumed per day to 2 million gallons. The development would require extraction from aquifers or connection to the existing drinking water system but neither of these options are feasible. Local fishers expressed concerns over the risk of damage to oyster beds and disruption of freshwater and saltwater flows that are essential to the health of the estuarine environment.

Properties in Cabo Rojo purchased for Esencia
Many of the properties purchased for the Esencia project are shown in orange, agricultural land purchased in August 2025 is shown to the right. El Nuevo Día, 20/09/2025

By September 2025 project investors had spent approximately USD147 million on properties for Esencia and were on track to acquire the target of 809 hectares of land. Recent land parcel purchases were part of the Reserva Agrícola del Valle de Lajas (Lajas Valley Agricultural Reserve) and an airstrip. On 12th September the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNRA) published a 29-page report firmly reiterating its opposition to the Esencia project and concluding that the plans did not comply with environmental laws. Significant findings included fragmentation of habitats hosting endangered bird species, severe impacts on Catesbaea melanocarpa, a rare, endangered lily and threats to the habitat of Anolis poncensis, a rare lizard species. The project’s so-called ‘ecological corridors’ lacked the connectivity of existing ecosystems and golf courses, artificial ponds and landscaping claimed to be mitigations would be part of the project’s negative impacts.

For more information including references for all source material and photos see the case study on EJAtlas, the world’s largest, most comprehensive online database of social conflict around environmental issues – Esencia project, Puerto Rico

By 3rd November 2025 a petition – STOP THE LUXURY MEGAPROJECT “ESENCIA” IN CABO ROJO, PUERTO RICO NOW – calling on the Puerto Rican government and its agencies to stop the permit granting process, protect the land, study submitted material and conduct a transparent investigation prioritizing affected communities and experts, had attracted 36,327 signatures: Detengan ahora el megaproyecto de lujo “Esencia” en Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico (STOP THE LUXURY MEGAPROJECT “ESENCIA” IN CABO ROJO, PUERTO RICO NOW)

Cabo Rojo International Airport will serve a new luxury tourism complex and private jets

Rose Bridger Tourism , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A new international airport under construction in the Pedernales province in the southwest of the Dominican Republic, for commercial and private flights, is integral to development of a high-end coastal tourism complex.

Cabo Rojo International Airport site
Cabo Rojo International Airport construction site. Satellite image 09/09/2024

In January 2024 the government of the Dominican Republic announced construction of a new international airport in the Pedernales province in the southwest of the country. The site is in the Manuel Goya community, part of the Oviedo municipality. A Spanish firm, Acciona Construction SA, was awarded the contract to build Cabo Rojo International Airport, even though its bid was the most expensive. The RD$3,961 million (€62 million) contract, awarded in June 2024, included construction of a 3.1 kilometre runway, taxiway, aprons for Boeing 777 aircraft (the world’s largest twin-jet aircraft accommodating up to 368 passengers) and drainage works. The new airport will serve luxury tourism and private aircraft (private jets). Director of the Airport Department, Víctor Pichardo, highlighted the new airport’s potential to transform tourism in Pedernales by attracting both commercial flights and private aviation, noting that each year more than 40,000 private aircraft fly over the Carribean. He said the new airport would position the Dominican Republic as a hub for high-end tourism. Construction of the new Cabo Rojo Airport (also known as Pedernales Airport) is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2025; it is anticipated to handle up to 1 million passengers annually within 17 years, making it the third busiest airport in the country.

Luxiry tourism development adjoining Cabo Rojo Airport
Artist rendering of development of planned luxury tourism development near the new Cabo Rojo International Airport and expansion of Port Cabo Rojo. Image: Dominican Today

The new Cabo Rojo International Airport, will form the basis for a new coastal tourism complex with 12,000 rooms located just 15 minutes away (about 25 km). The two locations are already connected by a major highway: DR Route 44. The tourism complex site is near the existing Cabo Rojo Domestic Airport, a civic/military airport currently receiving a few small aircraft, carrying 2-30 passengers, per week and serving operations of the Dominican Air Force. Tourists will also be delivered to new resorts via Port Cabo Rojo, which is expanding into a facility capable of receiving two large cruise ships carrying up to 15,000 visitors. Large volumes of fresh water will be diverted to the tourist area via a new aqueduct which will supply 8,000 tourism rooms. As of July 2024 the ProPedernales tourism development trust, a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) with the government holding a 52% stake and the private sector holding 48%, reported a total investment of USD130 million on Cabo Rojo tourism, focused on the first three hotels and the airport runway. In addition, the Dominican Government had spent nearly USD30 million on water projects, site conditioning, planning and design to prepare for and support the initiative.

Six major international hotel chains, ‘a who’s who of luxury and all-inclusive resorts’, are building new properties in Cabo Rojo: Hilton, Marriott International, therostar Group, Karisma Hotels & Resorts, Amresorts (part of World of Hyatt) and Sunwing. Luxury tourism development just 15 kilometres away from the border with Haiti, gripped by gang violence and a humanitarian crisis, might seem incongruous. But the Dominican Republic has reinforced the border with Haiti with more than 13,000 troops and the first phase of a high-tech ‘smart’ border wall with drone patrols, surveillance towers and night vision cameras is nearing completion. The exclusivity and high security requirements of luxury tourism can go hand in hand with militarisation; the established Cabo Rojo Airport nearby already serves the Dominican Air Force.

At a June 2025 National System of Protected Areas (SNAP) conference a number of environmental experts stressed the importance of responsible tourism development in Cabo Rojo, avoiding repeating the mistakes of some other Dominican tourist destinations by protecting the region’s ecology and directly benefitting local communities. But problems have been reported in the earliest stages of Cabo Rojo’s tourism development. In August 2024 environmental organisation Grupo Jaragua said the project was proceeding without clear compensation plans for affected residents of the Oviedo municipality, where the airport is being constructed. A community leader reported that tractors had destroyed land. Two months later a truck drivers’ union took strike action protesting non-payment for tranport of fill materials used for airport construction, saying the amount being paid per kilometre was not even sufficient to cover their fuel costs. The government is providing a high level of financial and infrastructural support to tourism and airport megaprojects that will primarily benefit airlines, major international hotel chains and cruise ship lines, not local businesses, and only wealthy visitors will be able to afford to stay in the luxury hotels. And the new high-end tourism complex may well boost the number of private aircraft flights, only affordable to a small number of very wealthy people, at Cabo Rojo Domestic Airport.

Climate refugees face displacement to make way for Cox’s Bazar Airport and Air Force Base expansion

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Up to 70,000 climate refugees face displacement to make way for Cox’s Bazar Airport and Air Force Base expansion and more than 20,000 could be ineligible for replacement flats in the Khurushkul Ashrayan Project. On 7th January 2025 thousands of people protested against eviction.

Map of Cox's Bazar Airport and Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) base.
Map of Cox’s Bazar Airport, Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) base and Khurushkul Ashrayan Project. Satellite imagery 25th March 2025

Since 1981 climate refugees – people displaced by cyclones, river erosion and tidal surges from many of Bangladesh’s coastal areas – have resettled in Ward 1, Cox’s Bazar Municipality. The area is government-owned ‘khas’ land between the Bay of Bengal and Cox’s Bazar Airport and the adjoining Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) base. The largest influx of climate refugees occurred in the aftermath of a cyclone and tidal wave on 29th April 1991 when about 40,000 people displaced from Kutubdia Island settled in the area. In February 2011 several local leaders demanded cancellation of a project to expand Cox’s Bazar Airport. Officials had moved to acquire 16 areas in Ward 1 – including Kutubdiapara, Samitypara, Fadnerdail, Bandarpara and Naziraratek – and 40,000 people would become homeless. In 2012 the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) began a project to extend Cox’s Bazar Airport runway. In 2021 an agreement for another runway extension, lengthening it northwards into the Maheshkhali Channel through land reclamation, was signed.

Climate refugees face eviction

An in-depth investigation of the climate refugees from Kutubdia Island who had settled in Ward 1 was published in December 2024. They were still vulnerable to extreme weather; storms would leave many homes flooded with seawater and the area lacked cyclone shelters. Neither Cox’s Bazar Municipality nor the Chittagong District had precise data on the number of people living in Ward 1 but Akter Kamal, elected three times to represent Ward 1 and now a former councillor, said at least 52,000 people resided there. The investigation found that ‘Every household in the climate refugee camp lives inconstant fear of eviction. All the khas land in the area has been acquired for the expansion of Cox’s Bazar Airport’s runway and the construction of an air force base’.

Resettlement in the Khurushkal Ashrayan Project

The Khurushkal Ashrayan Project, located 3 kilometres east of Cox’s Bazar Airport, was described as ‘the world’s biggest climate refugee rehabilitation project’ when the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the first phase, housing 600 families, on 23rd July 2020. It was stated that upon completion 139 five-storey blocks would rehabilitate 4,409 families, the majority living in the Cox’s Bazar Airport area since being displaced by the 1991 cyclone. By December 2024 another 85 buildings had been completed which would accommodate 2,270 families. But former councillor Akter Kamal said that at least 20,000 climate refugees living in Ward 1 were ineligible for flats. Changes to the list of project beneficiaries had caused anxiety to between 20,000 and 22,000 climate refugees who were excluded from the resettlement plan.

Thousands protest eviction plan

On 7th January 2025 thousands of climate refugees, including residents of Samitypara and Kutubdiapara, held a protest demanding cancellation of the eviction plan linked to Cox’s Bazar Airport expansion. Demonstrators blocked roads causing traffic disruption with several thousand people blocking the main city road for 2½ hours, protesting eviction and calling for long-term settlement and holding a rally in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office. They had lived in their settlements in Ward 1 for 20-30 years but instead of rehabilitating them plans were being made to evict them. Former councillor Akter Kamal told Prothom Alo that between 60,000 and 70,000 climate refugees were living in the area and land had been acquired for Cox’s Bazar Airport runway expansion and air force base construction. He estimated the number of families not entitled to flats in the Khurushkal housing project as approximately 4,000. Protestors said they would bring the city to a standstill if the government did not reverse its decision to evict them.

Clash between locals and BAF personnel

On 24th February 2025 Shihab Kabir Nahid, a 30-year-old local trader, was killed in a clash between locals and BAF presonnel. His mother said he was standing in the doorway of their house and died after being shot in the head. The Inter Services Public Relation Directorate (ISPR) stated that Cox’s Bazar Air Base had come under a “sudden attack” by unidentified people from the neighbouring Samitypara area. But local residents alleged that the clash was triggered by altercations over BAF’s attempts to acquire land and relocate residents for expansion of Cox’s Bazar Airport and the air base. A Samitypara resident said the clash began as local representatives were on their way to a scheduled meeting with BAF officials about relocation for airport expansion. The Borderlens published an account of the violent incident and the circumstances leading up to it. Climate refugees in Ward 1 had lived in fear for many years, their homes on land earmarked for air base expansion and denied land ownership rights or resettlement. In recent months the eviction drive for air base expansion had intensified. Families’ appeals to the district administration went unanswered and BAF personnel were making threats. Gunfire began after a scuffle and social media footage showed air force personnel firing at unarmed protesters throwing bricks and stones.

Runway expansion impacts on waterway navigability

By March 2025 the runway expansion was 84% complete and aircraft navigation aid lights had been installed on concrete piles extending across the mouth of the Maheshkhali Channel. On multiple occasions the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) had raised concerns about lack of approvals, consultation and surveys pertaining to the risk of loss of navigability for waterway traffic, but the warnings had been ignored. A report by a committee of experts stated that the pillars in the river obstructed water flow and caused accumulation of sediment at the base of the pillars, narrowing the mouth of the Maheshkhali Channel and reducing navigability. An alternative channel that had been dug out was expanding westwards, posing risks to residents of Sonadia Island. The BIWTA report warned that sediment build-up could affect water routes along the coast from Chattogram to Cox’s Bazar along with the southward route to Saint Martin’s. The report recommended removal of the piling in the Maheshkhali Channel.

For more information, including references for source material, see the case study on EJAtlas, the world’s largest, most comprehensive online database of social conflict around environmental issues – Cox’s Bazar Airport and Air Force Base expansion

Lucknow Airport expansion, land acquisition, protest and Aerocity plans

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Satellite image of Lucknow Airport (Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport) dated 20/10/2024. Location of Terminal 3 and some of the villages affected by land acquisition for airport expansion are shown.

Lucknow Airport (also known as Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport), located 14km southwest of the capital city of Uttar Pradesh, is already the 11th busiest airport in India and traffic will increase with recent and ongoing expansion. A third terminal began operations on 30th March 2024, with capacity for 8 million passengers per year, set to rise to about 13 million upon completion of phase two. Land from Bhaktikhera village was used for the third terminal and runway extension and in March 2018 the Airports Authority of India (AAI) agreed to pay Rs 32 crore for relocation of about 600 residents. Compensation for acquisition of 70 acres of land from Bhaktikhera, Gurera and Aurangabad Jagir villages, for runway extension and other facilities, was still being negotiated in June 2018. Airport expansion had been stalled for a decade due to difficulties with land acquisition. But in June 2019 the AAI announced that ‘decks are cleared for the construction of the wall around the airport and expansion of the runway’. The district administration committed to helping AAI build the wall to keep out people ‘trespassing the area’ and stray animals posing safety risks.

Demolition notices and farmers protest boundary wall construction

Construction of houses near Lucknow Airport also raised safety concerns. At the end of August 2024 authorities served demolition notices on 50 houses which had been built next to the airport boundary without authorization. A Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) official said a builder had posed as a contractor without obtaining the requisite No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the airport administration, acquired land directly from farmers and pocketed the money. A month later construction of the airport boundary wall led to a clash between a group of farmers and police. After commencement of excavations works, with two JCBs in the presence of police, a large number of farmers, between 150 and 200, gathered and began to protest, saying the airport administration was forcibly occupying their land. The farmers, from Rahimabad and Mohammadpur Bhakti Kheda villages, said a disputed land petition was pending adjudication in the Allahabad High Court.  The protest forced authorities to temporarily halt land reclamation operations for airport expansion. Farmers argued that the land had been cultivated for many generations and that land acquisition notification in the 1950s lacked important details including plot numbers, land area and the names of the landowners, thus raising questions about the legitimacy of the acquisition process.

In response to the protest the district administration postponed the land reclamation drive until 15th October. The owner and operator of Lucknow Airport, Adani, one of India’s largest multinational conglomerates, plans to reclaim approximately 260 acres on the southern edge of the airport for extension of the runway to 3,500 metres to accommodate large, wide-body aircraft and construction of two parallel taxiways. Speaking anonymously, an official stated that a total of about 400 acres owned by the airport for over 70 years would be reclaimed for airport expansion and a survey would be conducted to compensate farmers with crops growing on the land. The principal petitioner against the land reclamation said the farmland had not been legally acquired, farmers had not received any compensation and Adani was attempting to forcibly construct the airport boundary wall. 

Boundary wall construction continues and Aero City plans

On 25th October the Supreme Court dismissed the farmers’ plea against expansion of Lucknow Airport, allowing LDA to proceed with the project. Lucknow Development Index announced on X that, after deployment of a ‘heavy police force’ in response to resistance, ‘work is still progressing amid farmers clashes’. A ‘massive area’ was being reclaimed and construction of the boundary wall had re-commenced. An official source said a 400-acre area was being reclaimed and a fourth terminal and an Aero City was planned on the land.

 Few months previously, on 5th February 2024 Times of India had reported ‘ambitious plans’ for Lucknow Aerocity, a 1,500 acre development with ‘an array of upscale amenities, such as world-class convention centres, large parks and seven-star hotels’, announced by Uttar Pradesh finance minister Suresh Kharna. The LDA was tasked with identifying land for the project, likely to be located in Rahimabad and Gahru villages. In addition to Lucknow, Adani owns several airports in India including Mumbai, Mangaluru, Jaipur, Ahemedabad, Thiruvanthapuram and Guwahati. Plans for aero cities adjoining Adani’s airports were reported in July 2022. The Economic Times stated that Adani plans to develop ‘aero cities’ on more than 500 acres at all its airports, with hotels, convention centres, retail, entertainment, healthcare, logistics, offices and other real estate sectors.

Locals resisted eviction for Guwahati Airport expansion

At the beginning of September 2021, a month before operation of Guwahati Airport (the busiest airport in northeast India) was handed over to Adani, there were reports of locals resisting eviction to make way for expansion. An eviction notice was served to 54 households, outside the walled area of the airport in Koitasidhi village. An airport official said the land, adjacent to the runway, was to be developed as an approach area, especially for larger aircraft on international flights. Villagers said that several plots of land had been acquired for construction and expansion of the airport since 1962. Some villagers said, “We would rather give our blood than give up our land”. Continuing protest was reported on 8th September; a local person said “We heard that the Adani group which has been given charge of the Airport for 50 years under a lease agreement by the Government of India wants to do expansion work here. But we want to clarify that we will not leave our land even if we are given adequate compensation”. Some other locals said they would not give their land to Adani. On 15th September 2021 the Times of India reported that villagers were fiercely resisting giving up land for airport expansion. A tearful farmer in his late 70s said his family had been compelled to give up land for airport expansion in the 1960s, which if sold today would fetch a much higher price. His family was left with ownership of just one residential plot. More recently, in June 2024, announcing the schedule for opening of a new terminal at Guwahati Airport in April 2025, Chief Airport Officer Utpal Baruah said plans for subsequent expansion phases included a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility, aerocity and helipad.

Construction of an ‘Eco-Tourism Airport’ on Koh Rong island

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Earthworks for construction of an airport on Koh Rong island, 25 km from the city of Sihanoukville on Cambodia’s south-west coast, began in January 2024. Satellite imagery shows the airport site, located in a flat area in the centre of the island. The new airport with a 2.650 metre runway will have capacity to handle 138,000 passengers annually upon completion of the first phase and the MoU signed in January 2023 formalised a budget of $300 million. The necessity and viability of Koh Rong International Eco-Tourism Airport seems questionable with two major international airports nearby. Newly constructed Dara Sakor Airport, with capacity for 10 million passengers per annum and scheduled to begin operations in November 2024, is only 21km away. Sihanouk Airport is 45 km away. Also, Koh Rong is already well served by boat; the ferry journey from Sihanoukville only takes about 45 minutes.

Satellite imagery of Koh Rong dated 1st November 2023, showing location of the four coastal villages, Royal Sands resort, long beach, major roads and Koh Rong International Eco-Tourism Airport construction site.

The new airport will be named ‘Koh Rong International Eco-Tourism Airport’. While an airport enables people to visit and explore protected beaches, forests and native wildlife habitats, it does the very opposite of protecting ecosystems, concreting over a vast area for runways, terminals and access roads. Then there is the issue of climate disrupting greenhouse gas emissions from flights, with aviation being energy intensive and dependent upon fossil fuels. And tourism development on Koh Rong has damaged ecosystems and the people depending on them. In 2008, Royal Group, one of the largest investment and development companies in Cambodia, was granted a 99-year land concession to develop the 78 square kilometre island. Realisation of the masterplan – featuring resorts, casinos, marinas, golf courses, two fishing villages and an airport – was delayed but commenced in 2015 with clearance of sites along the southwestern coast including forests along with construction of a road. On 3rd July 2015 Koh Touch villagers held a sit-in protest, blocking construction crews, excavators and a bulldozer, in response to construction of a road which they said would cut through their village and affect their homes. Later that month opposition to development of Koh Rong became more vocal in response to construction equipment and workers appearing on the island. Hundreds of residents began to speak out on social media. As well as cutting trees cliffs and rocky outcrops had been flattened for development, including a new pier on Long Beach, on the southeast of the island.

In August 2015 a number of Koh Kong residents called on officials to review what they called “abusive activities” by Royal Group. Construction had accelerated in recent weeks and workers and machinery had been photographed clearing large areas of forest. Residents accused Royal Group of destroying farmland and crops, including cashew, jackfruit, coconut and mango trees. A village leader said destruction could impact the livelihoods of over 100 families, who had lived on the island since 1995. Villagers said the destruction of their livelihoods was illegal and authorities should monitor the situation. Human rights and environmental campaigners supported residents’ calls for improved oversight and local groups were preparing petitions and other documents to file with provincial and national authorities. Protest groups had been formed in response to a breakdown in communications between residents and Royal Group. One villager said, “They come in and do their work, take whatever they want, but there is no communication”. 

Controversy over land titles for Koh Rong villagers was reported in 2017. Some residents who had lived on the island since before 2008 had land titles, although it was uncertain whether these titles would be upheld amid disputes. Those arriving after 2008 did not have land titles. By 2018 over 1,000 land plots, belonging to 500 families, had been recognised by the government, but in April 2018, during the inauguration of the luxurious, five-star Royal Sands Koh Rong resort, about 50 people who had not yet received land titles attempted to join the event but were prohibited from doing so. Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered the Ministry of Land Management to bring an end to the Koh Rong land dispute. In June 2020 53 families protested land clearance; a 35-hectare site they believed rightfully belonged to them was being bulldozed. A Preah Sihanouk Provincial Administration spokesperson called on the protesting families to cooperate with authorities by providing relevant documents and warned them that if they caused chaos legal action would be taken against them. A member of one of the protesting families claimed they had lived in the area since 1992 and said: ”We won’t go anywhere. I will gather to protest at this site. We dare not enter the bulldozing site. I want Prime Minister Hun Sen to see and tackle this issue for us. We all have ownership documents.”

In June 2024 Mongabay reported that a new map of Royal Group’s plans for Koh Rong showed golf course zones, commercial zones, accommodation zones, casinos zones and an international airport. The latest plans did not appear to impact fishing villages but included clearing some of the Koh Rong’s protected forests to make way for golf courses. In total, project plans entail clearing more than 3,100 hectares of the island’s forests. A photo showed bulldozers and trucks working on the airport site. Sixteen years after the land was leased to Royal Group there was still no publicly available social or environmental impact assessment and islanders’ future was uncertain. Some Koh Rong residents hoped to sell their land to Royal Group while others feared that it would be taken from them.

For more information about the airport and tourism projects on Koh Rong island, including references for all source material, see the case study on EJAtlas, the world’s largest, most comprehensive online database of social conflict around environmental issues: Koh Rong island tourism development, Cambodia.

Dara Sakor Airport serves tourism zone taking up 1/5 of Cambodia’s coastline

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In November 2023 Cambodia’s State Secretariat of Aviation (SSCA) announced that construction of Dara Sakor Airport (Cambodia’s fourth international airport after Phnom Penh Airport, Siem Reap Airport and Sihanouk Airport) was in its final stages. Dara Sakor Airport has been built to serve a gigantic tourism-oriented economic zone, the 451 square kilometre Dara Sakor project encompassing about one-fifth of Cambodia’s coastline. The Dara Sakor developer, Coastal City Development Group Ltd., calls the project ‘Coastal City’ and its website has pictorial maps indicating the many components of the project such as Dara Sakor Airport, a resort, tourism zone, golf courses and a port. The China-Global South Project reflected on the Dara Sakor project in 2023. Of all the anticipated infrastructure only the airport was completed. Yet the project continued with ‘considerable support from the government’. BBC reporters visiting Dara Sakor in September 2023 described unfinished roads and buildings as a stark contrast with ‘dazzling brochures for potential investors’.

Pictorial map of Dara Sakor project including tourism zone, resort, golf courses, development zone and Dara Sakor International Airport. Source: Coastal City Development Group Ltd.

Thousands of people have been forcibly displaced from their homes for the Dara Sakor project, losing their farming and fishing livelihoods. There have been many protests against eviction and inadequate compensation, in many instances met with repression. Unrest dates back to the inception of the project in 2008 when 360 sq km of land in the Botum Sakor and Kiri Sakor districts in the Koh Kong Province was reclassified as state-owned land. A 99-year lease contract was signed with Union Development Group (UDG) of China. Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (Adhoc) reported that affected communities were not consulted about the project, some only becoming aware when officials arrived to measuring land. In 2011 the project site grew to 451 sq km when UDG was granted an additional 91 sq km land concession to develop a water reservoir and hydropower. During 2011 UDG began dismantling and burning down some villagers’ houses and destroying productive trees.

A key protest took place in February 2014 when about 140 people blocked the road to UDG’s offices leading to a clash with 40 UDG security guards and six soldiers carrying AK-47 rifles. Kiri Sakor District Governor said district authorities had ordered about 100 families to vacate their land for the Dara Sakor project’s hotels, golf courses and an airport. By September 2014 5,791 people had moved to a relocation site where they lacked access to former farming and fishing areas and suffered many problems including poor quality housing damaged by wind and rain, limited water that did not meet national standards, lack of electricity and health care facilities. Reports of destruction of houses and productive trees emerged again in 2018. In april April Koh Kong Provincial Court heard testimony from 13 families claiming that 60 UDG guards had burned their productive trees, seeking compensation for loss of cassava, jackfruit, mango, rubber and coconut crops.

On 27th May 2019 about 20 residents protested in front of the Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh, calling for resolution of the 11-year land dispute. A report by the Community Legal Education Center stated that 1,143 families were forced to vacate about 100 sq km of land in the first five years fo the project but many families had resisted and fought for rights to the land. Four villagers were detained for 12 hours on 29th September 2020, after camping outside Koh Kong Provincial Hall calling for action over the 12-year land dispute with UDG. A year later 1,333 families rejected compensation offers of between 1 and 3.5 hectares and said they would fight to remain on their land. Protests against compensation offers continues into 2022; some declined the offer as it was insufficient and the village the government wanted to relocate people to was 100 km away and lacked infrastructure.

In June 2023, just four months before SSCA’s announcement about construction of Dara Sakor Airport entering its final stages, there was yet another protest by people affected by displacement for the Dara Sakor project. A group of villagers involved in a Dara Sakor related land dispute attempted to travel to Phnom Penh to submit a petition at the Ministry of Justice, but were met with a police roadblock. Eleven villagers were arrested, forced into a truck, returned to Koh Kong and charged with criminal incitement. Radio Free Asia reported that authorities threatened further arrests after about 20 villagers gathered outside the offices where the 11 people were being detained. Human rights organization Licadho said the protesters had not caused any social disorder and that police had been sent to the the area where many of them lived.

For more information including references for all source material see the case study on EJAtlas, the world’s largest, most comprehensive online database of social conflict around environmental issues – Dara Sakor project, Cambodia.

Over 1,000 residents protest Taoyuan Aerotropolis relocation policies

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More than 1,000 residents, along with several legislators, gathered to voice their discontent over government relocation policies for the Taoyuan Aerotropolis project, the largest land expropriation case in Taiwan.

The protest took place on 13th October 2023, after continued public appeals over the high cost of resettlement housing had gone unheeded. Huang Shih-chieh, the Democratic Progressive Party legislator, said the government should adjust relocation compensation in line with the price index and that the high cost of resettlement housing should be absorbed by the government, not shifted onto the affected people. In response, the Taoyuan City Government stated that the compensation budget had been increased by 20% but affected households said they have never felt adequately compensated. Kuomintang (KMT) Councillor Hsu Chi-wan said the government had repeatedly given the same resonse to appeals from households whose property was expropriated and suggested that compensation measures executed by Taoyuan’s Land Administration Department should be expedited.