Internally Displaced

Apr 27, 2018
2 min read

Updated: May 9, 2018

In 2009 the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 64/162, recognising that natural disasters were in fact a cause of internal displacement. Most displacement occurs within national borders as opposed to across international lines as is usually presumed.

Over the past number of years the numbers displaced are rising, one report estimated that 27 million people were displaced annually due to natural hazards, while another reports that 65.6 million people were forcibly displaced in 2016 alone, with climatic events responsible for 23.5 million of those displacements.

The term ‘environmental refugee’ and ‘climate change refugee’ has appeared in the media frequently, often even with relation to movement within a country, however this presents an inaccurate picture. Under the Refugee Convention people must have a real fear of persecution, in addition to being outside of their home country’s borders to avail of refugee protection. Those affected by displacement within their country are not protected internationally, even though they make up the biggest proportion of people displaced. This forces people to wait until the multiplier effect kicks in and a conflict occurs before they are able to cross international borders and receive protection under the Refugee Convention. This however, is not just an example but a reality for many. While some people associate the Syrian refugee crisis solely with the Arab Springs and the conflict which ensued, reflecting upon prior events we see that 1.5 million people had been forcefully displaced prior to the Arab Springs.

Under the Paris Agreement countries are urged but not obliged to consider, respect and promote their obligations towards migrants, but are not bound by this. While the protection of people, resilience of communities and importance of livelihoods are referred to in the agreement they are again, non-binding aspects. The Paris Agreement requests the Executive Committee of the Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM) on loss and damage, to establish a task force on displacement, to develop recommendations towards integration, and measures to avert the effects related to adverse impacts of climate change.