Introduction - TIANMUN...TIANMUN 2020 Human Rights Council – 2 or 2 million, but 10 or 20...

TIANMUN 2020 Human Rights Council –

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FORUM: Human Rights Council

ISSUE: Measures to Protect the Human Rights of Refugees

Who Lost Permanent Settlement Due to Climate

Change and Natural Disasters

STUDENT OFFICER: Ji Hee Kim

POSITION: Head President of Human Rights Council

Introduction According to the United Nations, there

are currently 79.5 million people that have been

forcibly displaced from their homes. Among

those, 26 million are refugees. According to the

United Nations, refugees are defined as “people

who have fled war, violence, conflict, or

persecution and have crossed an international

border.” Thus, refugees face extreme conditions,

including conflict and persecution, that cause

them to leave their permanent homes. Recently, a

rising number of natural disasters, such as floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, and mudslides, have taken

place, leading to natural disasters to become one of the most prominent reasons for displacement. A

report conducted by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) and the Geneva-

based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) concluded that an average of 14 million people

per year lose their homes due to sudden disasters. This risk is becoming more and more serious,

particularly due to the impacts of climate change. The report also showed that 8 out of 10 countries in

which displacement and housing problems happened were in South and Southeast Asia, with earthquakes,

tsunamis, floods, and tropical cyclones being the prominent disasters.

Background Climate Change “If Europe thinks they have a problem with migration today … wait 20 years. See what happens

when climate change drives people out of Africa – the Sahel especially. And we’re talking now not just 1

ClimateMigrantduetoDrought


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or 2 million, but 10 or 20 [million],” Stephen Cheney, a retired U.S. army official said when asked about

climate refugees. Climate change is an extreme problem that is already starting to show its impact on the

world today, acting as a contributing factor to both international and domestic involuntary migration. The

main challenge for refugees caused by climate change is that until recently, even the United Nations had

no official status for them, thus, there is not much information on the matter. However, experts

undoubtedly claim that climate change is an “existential threat to our world,” especially since it has the

potential, when added with social, political, and economic tensions, to ignite extremely violent and

disastrous conflicts across the world.

Examples of climate migrations tend to be

quiet and are sometimes described as “silent

catastrophes.” The Gobi Desert in China is one of

them. Expanding more than 10,000 square

kilometers per year, the Gobi Desert is an extreme

threat to the fertile soils in villages that cause many

farmers to leave the region. Louisiana also loses

around 65 sq. kilometers per year to the sea, and in

the United Kingdom, 10 million people live in future

flood-risk areas. In January 2020, the United Nations

Human Rights Committee passed a ruling that declared that refugees due to the effects of climate change

are not to be returned to their home countries. The Committee expects “millions” of such refugees in the

near future.

Natural Disasters Other than climate change, natural disasters are also thought of to be a serious issue that is

increasing in both frequency and intensity. A study by the Norwegian Refugee Council found that twice

as many people became homeless due to natural disasters in 2013 than in the 1970s. Earthquakes,

tsunamis, floods, and tropical cyclones are the main forms of natural disasters that cause destruction.

According to a UN report, the main reason for environment-related migrations was flooding (55%)

followed by tropical cyclones (29%). Droughts were also of great significance, causing people from

places such as Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya to move towards Europe due to the desertification of

farmland. Some claim that these natural calamities can also be described as an effect of climate change.

Scientists predict that by 2050, Italy will have lost 17% of its land above sea level. The Maldives, because

of their location in the middle of the Indian Ocean, has already begun to make evacuation plans with

Australia, India, and Sri Lanka.

ExpansionofGobiDesert


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Problems Raised Disruption in Children’s Education

Although the effects might be hard to see right away, education is a fundamental human right that

is cherished under both the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child and the 1951 Refugee

Convention. Education is extremely important to refugees as it allows children to understand themselves

and their situations, while also striving to rebuild back their lives. Children can also be exposed to the

dangers of child labor, early marriage, and army recruitments by not being at school.

In 2017, the floods in South Asia destroyed and damaged 18,000 schools, leaving 1.8 million

children out of education. Even in such serious cases, education did not receive enough funding. This

happens to be the case most of the time as people tend to not think of education as a lifesaving necessity

as much as food, water, or shelter. Nevertheless, according to Sigbjorn Ljung, a specialist at Plan

International, “by providing education

in emergencies it’ll be easier for a

country to get back on track, because its

children and young people are

educated.” Education is a necessity that

shows its effects mostly in the long

term. In the short term, however,

education can also act as a tool for

children to “feel a kind of normality”

that will help them cope with the

situation at hand.

Lack of Definition

Although refugees are protected under international law, refugees in relation to climate change

and natural disasters are not. Climate refugees are not protected under the Refugee Convention initiated

by the United Nations, as refugees must be “fleeing” from something. Climate change is not on the list of

the “fleeing” actions and thus is not necessarily considered a “refugee.” However, there have been many

attempts that have been made to redefine the term ‘refugee’ so that it may include situations regarding the

climate, particularly since there has been an extreme increase in those. Different NGOs came together in

the Maldives to come up with a way to implement international law but ended up as a failure. Thus, the

term “climate refugee” is not official, and the current best solution seems to be policies to be adapted by

individual countries.

HomelessChildduetoMudslidesinSriLanka


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International Actions 1951 Refugee Convention The 1951 Refugee Convention, also known as

the Convention relating to the Status of

Refugees, is a United Nations treaty that acts as

a key document in protecting international

refugees’ rights. Acting also as the foundation

for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), this

legislation defines the term ‘refugee,’ shapes the

rights of the displaced, and protects the legal

obligations of the States. The Convention

defines a refugee as “someone who is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to a

well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a

particular social group, or political opinion.” This shows that the Refugee Convention acts based on

Article 14 of the Universal Human Rights, which is the right to seek asylum from persecution in other

countries. However, since refugees with the lack of food, education, and healthcare without any means of

persecution do not sustain the refugee claim of the Refugee Convention, there are many claims that this

convention might be outdated in relation to the more complex situation in the 21st Century. Nevertheless,

the United Nations still acknowledges that such refugees need protection as these circumstances are

challenges for the international humanitarian community.

Although this Convention is not relatable to the refugees derived from climate change and natural

disasters, it is important to note that refugees’ human rights are protected by international law. It is even

more important that climate refugees also receive this protection, especially as their numbers are

increasing.

Advisory Group on Climate Change and Human Mobility Although the 1951 Refugee Convention does not acknowledge “climate refugees” as a refugee

under international law, the United Nations still understands that it is a problem. Thus, in 2015, the

United Nations established a multi-actor cross-sectorial that took action on migrations caused by climate

change and natural disasters. There is a total of 8 actions based on providing guidance and assistance on

the approach to the solutions. However, although issues with human mobility mainly have to do with

adaptation, the Advisory Group on Climate Change and Human Mobility understands that solutions exist

1951Refugeeconvention


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in the works of mitigating and minimizing the risks of displacement. Working with the International

Organization for Migration, the United Nations has worked to help such victims of natural calamities due

to climate change.

Key Players

UNHCR

The United Nations Higher Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is the organization responsible

for leading and coordinating international action to protect refugees. The UNHCR uses a program called

Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) that is “aimed at enhancing the environmental resilience of refugees and

Internally displaced persons and supporting emergency responses.” DRR activities include resilience and

emergency response. Resilience projects refer specifically to the environment of refugees. They work to

increase the capacity to manage natural resources. For example, many refugees in Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya,

and Uganda tend to rely on wood for cooking. In such cases, the UNHCR utilizes technology to

introducing environmental resilience through approaches towards site-planning. Emergency response, on

the other hand, refers to large-scale natural disaster situations. In the past, the UNHCR has worked in

response to the Haitian earthquake of 2010, Somalia droughts from 2011 to 2012, the Myanmar storms

and flooding in 2013, and the Philippine typhoons in 2011 and 2013. These actions work in support of

government officials through expertise in protection, shelter, and camp management.

In response to the refugee crisis in relation to natural hazards, the UNHCR has declared also

declared its role to cover four main areas: legal guidance and the development of norms, promoting

policy coherence, research, and field-based and risk reduction activities.

World Bank

As an institution where fighting poverty

is its principal mission, the World Bank is

extremely concerned about helping those who

have been and are prone to natural disasters.

According to its statistics, 97.7% of those made

homeless by such natural hazards are from

developing countries and climate change effects

will cause 100 million additional people into

extreme poverty by 2030. Throughout the past

decade, the Bank has become a global leader in

FloodsinIndia


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the field of disaster risk management by constantly providing new information and investing in more

resilient infrastructure.

In one of the paper series regarding its disaster risk management, the Bank revealed that its main

purpose is to: “help the disaster homeless get back on their feet again as quickly as possible, focus

primarily and expeditiously on recovery needs, bring existing good housing sector policies and practices

to bear on housing reconstruction, and encourage mitigation measures that can help reduce the impact of

future disasters.”

India

With an average of 2.3 million people per year being forced to leave their homes, India is

extremely prone to natural disasters. With a high socio-economic vulnerability and unique geo-climatic

conditions, the country experiences floods, cyclones, heat or cold waves, avalanches, landslides,

earthquakes, and droughts. Such natural phenomenon is problematic because it leads to a sudden loss of

homes and deaths. In 2019, India experienced only nine out of ninety-three deaths in Asia but accounted

for 48% of the deaths in the continent. These statistics show that a large number of deaths occur in this

country.

Possible Solutions Investment in Resilient Infrastructure

Resilient infrastructure refers to infrastructure

systems that minimize disturbance and retains its

functions and capacity even after a natural disaster

occurs. In the same way, infrastructure acts as a

determining factor after an extreme environment

hazard takes place in whether or not the situation is

considered a disaster. Usually, public infrastructure

such as roads and power supplies often depend on

each other to function, and the collapse of one of them

leads to the downfall of another. This concept is called

critical infrastructure, a complex system that involves

production, transportation, health, communication,

and safety, which society needs to run. Thus, when it

comes to natural calamities and infrastructure, the most important thing becomes vulnerability.

2016WorldRiskLevels(FoundbyExposurexVulnerability)


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Vulnerability is determined by how fragile the system works and how the country is able to cope with

hazards in both the short term and long term. A country’s risk factor can be found by multiplying the

vulnerability and exposure (the number of times the natural hazard occurs). The Netherlands is an

example of a country that has a high hazard exposure but a low vulnerability. Countries must invest in

resilient infrastructure, particularly in remote areas, that are sustainable in different hazardous situations.

Planned Relocation Natural disasters due to climate change is

not something that can be immediately stopped.

While it is extremely important to reduce climate

change, it is also crucial to prepare for relocation

ahead of time. Vanuatu, for example, a Pacific

Island, has already developed a policy on climate

change and disaster-induced displacement. This

policy includes the development of safeguards

and standard procedures regarding relocation.

Fiji Island has also developed a trust fund for relocation if necessary. Governments must work on ways to

work ahead of time, especially since climate migrations are made internally.

Reinvest in Rural Economies

Many reports claim that the regions that are poor and developing are impacted the most by natural

disasters and climate change. People in these areas do not have enough financial support to either leave or

rebuild the community. Therefore, it is important for governments to reinvest in rural economies and

infrastructure beforehand so that when natural calamities occur, it is easier for the economy to bounce

back.

Glossary Climate Migrant

the phrase used instead of “climate refugee” since these migrants have not been officially

recognized as a refugee

Convention an agreement between countries that is less formal than a treaty

International Organization for Migration (IOM)

ClimateMigrants


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an intergovernmental organization that provides services to all sorts of migrants, including

refugees, internally displaced persons, and migrant workers

Natural Calamities another phrase for natural disaster

Resilience the power or effort to go back to its original form; to restore


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Briggs, Billy. “Natural Disasters Leave Millions Homeless and Children out of School.” Theirworld, Theirworld, 13 Aug. 2018, theirworld.org/news/natural-disasters-force-millions-children-out-of-school-every-year.

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