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Environmental Migration as a Humanitarian Challenge

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From Cold War to Cyber War

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Abstract

Environmental migration has received increasing attention in political and legal debates as well as in academic research. In all three contexts the complexity of the topic and the difficulties in addressing it adequately have been stressed. The ongoing discussions within humanitarian organizations themselves concerning this topic, however, have received limited research attention. Humanitarian organizations work closely with vulnerable populations, and are often among the first groups responding to local needs in their projects and relief operations. Starting from this observation, this research analyses both the challenges and opportunities in addressing the needs of environmental migrants from a humanitarian perspective. The study focuses on the positions developed within the International Red Cross/Red Crescent (RC/RC) Movement, particularly within the International Federation of the RC/RC (IFRC).

Dr. Kerstin Rosenow-Williams is a research associate at the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict at the Ruhr-University Bochum.

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Notes

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  8. 8.

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  9. 9.

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  10. 10.

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  11. 11.

    O. Brown/R. McLeman, supra note 8.

  12. 12.

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  13. 13.

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  14. 14.

    Foresight, Migration and Global Environmental Change. Future Challenges and Opportunities, London 2011, pp. 43 ff.

  15. 15.

    Foresight, supra note 2, p. 8.

  16. 16.

    J. McAdam, supra note 1, p. 38.

  17. 17.

    G. Renaud et al., supra note 2.

  18. 18.

    World Bank 2013, supra note 6, p. 132.

  19. 19.

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  20. 20.

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  21. 21.

    O. Brown/R. McLeman, supra note 8.

  22. 22.

    K. Warner et al., supra note 2.

  23. 23.

    Foresight, supra note 2, p. 6.

  24. 24.

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  25. 25.

    E. El-Hinnawi, Environmental Refugees, Nairobi 1985.

  26. 26.

    UNHCR, supra note 1; IFRC, World Disasters Report 2012: Focus on Forced Migration and Displacement, 2012, at http://www.ifrcmedia.org/assets/pages/wdr2012/resources/1216800-WDR-2012-EN-FULL.pdf (accessed on 17 April 2014).

  27. 27.

    UNHCR, Forced Displacement in the Context of Climate Change, supra note 1; UNHCR, Climate Change and Statelessness, supra note 1.

  28. 28.

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  29. 29.

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  30. 30.

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  31. 31.

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  32. 32.

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  33. 33.

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  34. 34.

    W. Kälin/N. Schrepfer, supra note 1; J. McAdam, supra note 1; J. McAdam, supra note 12; V. Kolmannskog, supra note 1; V. Kolmannskog/F. Myrstad, supra note 1.

  35. 35.

    UNHCR, Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, Geneva 2010.

  36. 36.

    UNHCR, Expert Meeting on Complementarities between International Refugee Law, International Criminal Law and International Human Rights Law: Summary Conclusions, Geneva 2011.

  37. 37.

    M. Leighton, supra note 1, p. 2.

  38. 38.

    UNHCR, supra note 35.

  39. 39.

    Ibid.

  40. 40.

    UNHCR, Forced Displacement in the Context of Climate Change, supra note 1.

  41. 41.

    Ibid.

  42. 42.

    J. McAdam, supra note 12, pp. 12–13.

  43. 43.

    New Zealand High Court, Teitiota v Chief Executive of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, NZHC 3125, 26 November 2013.

  44. 44.

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  45. 45.

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  46. 46.

    United Nations, Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, Geneva 2004.

  47. 47.

    J. McAdam, supra note 12; J. McAdam, supra note 1; V. Kolmannskog/F. Myrstad, supra note 1.

  48. 48.

    D. Hodgkinson/L. Young, supra note 1.

  49. 49.

    European Union, Council Directive 2001/55, in: Official Journal of the European Communities (2001), L.212/12.

  50. 50.

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  51. 51.

    M. Leighton, supra note 1, pp. 6–7.

  52. 52.

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  53. 53.

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  54. 54.

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  55. 55.

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  56. 56.

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  57. 57.

    Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre, Climate Guide, The Hague 2007, p. 18.

  58. 58.

    Interview RCCC staff, 26 September 2013.

  59. 59.

    Ibid.

  60. 60.

    IFRC, Climate Change and Human Mobility: A Humanitarian Point of View, 22 April 2009, at https://www.ifrc.org/Global/Publications/disasters/climate%20change/climate_change_and_human_mobility-en.pdf (accessed on 17 April 2014), p. 1.

  61. 61.

    Id., p. 3.

  62. 62.

    Ibid.

  63. 63.

    United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Fact-Sheet on Contribution of Migrants to Development: Trade, Investment and Development Links, Geneva 2010.

  64. 64.

    IFRC, supra note 26.

  65. 65.

    Id., p. 231.

  66. 66.

    Id., pp. 231–237.

  67. 67.

    Id., p. 237.

  68. 68.

    Interview, 4 September 2013.

  69. 69.

    IFRC, supra note 26, p. 201.

  70. 70.

    World Bank, supra note 6.

  71. 71.

    IFRC, supra note 26, pp. 202–204.

  72. 72.

    Id., p. 190.

  73. 73.

    Ibid.

  74. 74.

    Cf. The Nansen Initiative, supra note 30.

  75. 75.

    IFRC, supra note 26, p. 237.

  76. 76.

    European Union, supra note 49.

  77. 77.

    African Union, supra note 50.

  78. 78.

    Cf. International Colloquium in Commemoration of the ‘Tenth Anniversary of the Cartagena Declaration on Refugees’, San Jose Declaration on Refugees and Displaced Persons: Conclusions and Recommendations, San José, 5–7 December 1994, at http://www.refworld.org/pdfid/4a54bc3fd.pdf (accessed on 29 March 2014).

  79. 79.

    Organization of American States, Mexico Declaration and Plan of Action to Strengthen the International Protection of Refugees in Latin America, Mexico City, 16 November 2004, at http://www.oas.org/dil/mexico_declaration_plan_of_action_16nov2004.pdf (accessed on 29 March 2014).

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  1. Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany

    Kerstin Rosenow-Williams

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  1. Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany

    Hans-Joachim Heintze

  2. Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany

    Pierre Thielbörger

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Rosenow-Williams, K. (2016). Environmental Migration as a Humanitarian Challenge. In: Heintze, HJ., Thielbörger, P. (eds) From Cold War to Cyber War. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19087-7_6

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