A Last Resort? Reframing Evacuations as an Anticipatory Disaster Risk Management Strategy

Abstract Evacuations are often framed as a measure of last resort given the risks they can pose to people’s rights and well-being as a form of displacement. However, this framing can obscure the protective potential of well-planned, anticipatory evacuations. This article argues for a reframing of evacuations as a proactive disaster risk management strategy that can enable timely, safe and dignified movement away from foreseeable hazards. It contends that the principle of ‘last resort’ should be understood not as a chronological endpoint, but rather as a safeguard against exposing people unnecessarily to both the immediate and secondary risks of displacement. Where evacuations are carefully planned and supported by rights-based safeguards, these risks can be mitigated. Accordingly, the article calls for a shift in focus: from whether alternatives to evacuation exist, to how evacuations can be designed and implemented in the least intrusive way, integrated into broader anticipatory frameworks for managing disaster risk.