Environmental disasters and climate change force people to cross borders, but they're not recognised as refugees – they should be
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Tuesday, September 26, 2023
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In response to these challenges, many individuals and communities have no choice but to abandon their homes and seek safety elsewhere.
Key Points:
- In response to these challenges, many individuals and communities have no choice but to abandon their homes and seek safety elsewhere.
- The challenge, however, is that people crossing borders due to weather don’t qualify as refugees under key laws and conventions.
- It’s predicted that the number of people displaced due to weather shifts or disasters will reach as many as 1.2 million people by 2050.
- I recommend that international laws and conventions be amended to explicitly include people forced by weather shocks to move across borders.
Lack of protection
- Refugees in Africa are also protected by the 1969 Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Convention.
- These laws provide them with a safe haven, access to fair asylum procedures and protection from discrimination.
- This means that people forcibly displaced only by environmental disasters are not entitled to refugee status, although deserving of temporary protection.
- It has raised awareness of climate change as a driver of displacement and the need to address protection for people displaced in the context of disasters.
What needs to change
People displaced by adverse weather developments should be given more than temporary protection. This will require changes to international regulations and national laws. For instance, a protocol regarding climate-induced displacement should be added to the 1969 OAU convention so that displaced people who cross international borders are legally covered.