Climate Change Displacement in Atoll Island States

Yamamoto, Lilian; Esteban, Miguel

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-38186-7_7

Lilian Yamamoto³ &
Miguel Esteban⁴

1501 Accesses

Abstract

The major challenge facing the inhabitants of Atoll Island States is that there is no legal instrument that encompasses displacement caused by sea level rise. Discussions on the possibilities for protection are based on an extended application of the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, complementary protection or a creation of a Convention which would protect environmental or climate-change displaced people. The major difficulty for creating a Convention for climate-change displaced people is that displacement might not be exclusively caused by climate change. Socio- economic factors are also involved in the complex matrix of reasons why people relocate to foreign lands, and this fact can be a challenge for the creation of a Convention to protect climate-change displaced people. The chapter will discuss these and other challenges by applying a metaphor which explains the roles of developing and developed countries in the human rights field. Alternative solutions to a Convention, such as bilateral agreements and soft law, will be also analyzed, showing how they hold much more promise and are likely to be easier to be implemented. In addition, the regime of statelessness will be examined, together with whether climate change can constitute a violation of human rights.

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Notes

1.
Büntgen et al. (2011), p. 578.
2.
McAdam (2011b), p. 107.
3.
McAdam (2011b), p. 107.
4.
Anghie (2006), p. 741.
5.
Anghie (2006), p. 741.
6.
McLeman (2011), p. S108.
7.
Söderbergh (2011), p. 13.
8.
Söderbergh (2011), p. 13.
9.
McLeman (2011), p.S109.
10.
McLeman (2011), p. S109.
11.
McAdam (2009), p. 3.
12.
McAdam (2011a), p. 14.
13.
Refugee Studies Centre (2011), p. 14.
14.
In this case whether the movement is “voluntary” or “involuntary”, which is a distinction that is very difficult to make.
15.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (2011b), p. 8.
16.
Examples of slow-onset movement causes are land degradation, deforestation and forest degradation, declining abundance of fish, erosion of river banks and beaches, contamination of water resources, and coral degradation. See Barnet and Webber (2009), p. 7.
17.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (2011a), p. 14.
18.
Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, Art. 1(1).
19.
Refugee Studies Centre (2011), p. 11.
20.
McAdam (2009), p. 3.
21.
Söderbergh (2011), p. 2.
22.
Ways of providing protection by UNHCR are enlisted in the Statute of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 14 December 1950, A/RES/428(V), available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3ae6b3628.html. Accessed 26 January 2012. Para. 8 provides that “The High Commissioner shall provide for the protection of refugees falling under the competence of his Office by: (a) Promoting the conclusion and ratification of international conventions for the protection of refugees, supervising their application and proposing amendments thereto; (b) Promoting through special agreements with Governments the execution of any measures calculated to improve the situation of refugees and to reduce the number requiring protection; (c) Assisting governmental and private efforts to promote voluntary repatriation or assimilation within new national communities; (d) Promoting the admission of refugees, not excluding those in the most destitute categories, to the territories of States ;(e) Endeavouring to obtain permission for refugees to transfer their assets and especially those necessary for their resettlement; (f) Obtaining from Governments information concerning the number and conditions of refugees in their territories and the laws and regulations concerning them; (g) Keeping in close touch with the Governments and inter-governmental organizations concerned; (h) Establishing contact in such manner as he may think best with private organizations dealing with refugee questions; (i) Facilitating the co-ordination of the efforts of private organizations concerned with the welfare of refugees.”
23.
See UNHCR (2011c), Summary of Deliberations on Climate Change and Displacement, UNHCR expert meeting 26–28 February, 2011, Bellaggio, Italy.
24.
Dun et al. (2007), p. 3.
25.
Kibreab (1997), p. 21.
26.
McAdam (2009), p. 6.
27.
See for example Farbotko and Lazrus (2011), pp. 382–390 and McNamara and Gibson (2009), pp. 475–483.
28.
Farbotko and Lazrus (2011), p. 387.
29.
Opinion of an NGO Director in Funafuti, as interviewed by Farbotko and Lazrus (2011), p. 387.
30.
Speech of Anote Tong, President of Kiribati at the Australian National University, 19 June 2008 (http://news.anu.edu.au/?p=437) as quoted by McAdam (2009) p. 7.
31.
McAdam (2011b), p. 116.
32.
Interview between Jane McAdam and the Kiribati Solicitor-General David Lambourne, as explained in McAdam (2011b), p. 116.
33.
Interview between Jane McAdam and the Kiribati Solicitor-General David Lambourne, as explained in McAdam (2011b), p. 116.
34.
Interview between Jane McAdam and the Kiribati Solicitor-General David Lambourne, as explained in McAdam (2011b), p. 116.
35.
Myers (2001), p. 162.
36.
See Farbotko and Lazrus (2011), p. 2.
37.
The classification was adapted from Displacement Solutions (2009), pp. 16–17.
38.
Disasters are considered to be the major driver of short-term displacement and migration, and an increase in the intensity and frequency of these events can increase the number of temporarily displaced people, see Warmer et al. (2009), p. IV.
39.
Mikami et al. (2011).
40.
The people who undergo this type of displacement have been termed “internally displaced people” or IDPs. As yet there is no international instrument on IDPs, as technically these people would be within their national boundaries and international law cannot govern them. For the case of Atoll Island States this issue is not crucial as ultimately there will be nowhere for them to relocate to within the boundaries of their country. However, for more details on IDPs see Atapattu (2009), p. 607.
41.
Rakova (2009).
42.
This could also be referred to as “international migration”, see Martin (2010).
43.
International Organization for Migration (IOM) 2007, p. 2.
44.
McLeman (2011), p. S111.
45.
International Organization for Migration (IOM), 2007. The sea of Aral is an example of this interference with the local environment, see McLeman (2011), p. S110.
46.
Park (2001), p. 397.
47.
Suliman and Osman (2011), p. 57.
48.
Söderbergh (2011), p. 10.
49.
McAdam (2009), p. 4.
50.
McAdam (2009), p. 4
51.
Hodgkinson et al. (2010), p. 10.
52.
Displacement Solutions (2009), p. 15.
53.
Stern (2007), p. 77.
54.
Maclellan (2009), p. 37.
55.
Maclellan (2009), p. 37.
56.
Of course this number could grow in the future due to natural population growth in the islands. However, it is unlikely that the inhabitants of all these countries will be forced to migrate, as some (such as the Maldives) probably have the resources necessary to protect and raise the islands, as discussed in Chap. 4.
57.
McAdam (2009), p. 3.
58.
Atapattu (2009), p. 607.
59.
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugee, art. 33(1).
60.
UNHCR Handbook, para.65.
61.
Hong (2001), p. 323.
62.
Hong (2001), p. 331, referring to Jacques Vernant, the Refugee in the Post- War World 5-7 (1953).
63.
McAdam and Saul (2008), pp. 7–8.
64.
“Persecution is normally related to action by the authorities of a country. It may also emanate from sections of the population that do not respect the standards established by the laws of the country concerned. A case in point may be religious intolerance, amounting to persecution, in a country otherwise secular, but where sizeable fractions of the population do not respect the religious beliefs of their neighbours. Where serious discriminatory or other offensive acts are committed by the local populace, they can be considered as persecution if they are knowingly tolerated by the authorities or if the authorities refuse, or prove unable, to offer effective protection”, para.65, UNHCR Handbook.
65.
Especially if this is a vulnerable group such as women, children or indigenous people, who are considered to be the groups most affected by poverty, see Ammer (2009), pp. 51–52.
66.
“Being unable to avail himself of such protection implies circumstances that are beyond the will of the person concerned. There may, for example, be a state of war, civil war or other grave disturbance, which prevents the country of nationality from extending protection or makes such protection ineffective. Protection by the country of nationality may also have been denied to the applicant. Such denial of protection may confirm or strengthen the applicant’s fear of persecution, and may indeed be an element of persecution”, para. 98, UNHCR Handbook.
67.
Nexus or causal link is established when the well-founded fear of persecution is on account of one of the protected grounds, which are race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a social group.
68.
Ammer (2009), pp. 51–52.
69.
Williams (2008), p. 508.
70.
Cited by UN High Commissioner for Refugees (2011b), p. 14, Refugee Appeal No. 72189/2000, RSAA (17 August 2000).
71.
Duong (2010), p. 1265.
72.
Americas - Miscellaneous, Cartagena Declaration on Refugees, Colloquium on the International Protection of Refugees in Central America, Mexico and Panama, 22 November 1984, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3ae6b36ec.html, para.3.
73.
Organization of African Unity, Convention governing the specific aspects of refugee problems in Africa, art, I, para.2, June 20, 1974, 1001 U.N.T.S.45.
74.
Paragraph 3. To reiterate that, in view of the experience gained from the massive flows of refugees in the Central American area, it is necessary to consider enlarging the concept of a refugee, bearing in mind, as far as appropriate and in the light of the situation prevailing in the region, the precedent of the OAU Convention (Art. 1, paragraph 2) and the doctrine employed in the reports of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Hence the definition or concept of a refugee to be recommended for use in the region is one which, in addition to containing the elements of the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol, includes among refugees persons who have fled their country because their lives, safety or freedom have been threatened by generalized violence, foreign aggression, internal conflicts, massive violation of human rights or other circumstances which have seriously disturbed public order. Americas - Miscellaneous, Cartagena Declaration on Refugees, Colloquium on the International Protection of Refugees in Central America, Mexico and Panama, 22 November 1984, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3ae6b36ec.html.
75.
Havard (2007), p. 77.
76.
McAdam and Saul (2008), p. 7.
77.
It has even been suggested by the term “environmental refugee” could even undermine the current refugee protection regime, according to Söderbergh (2011), p. 43. This author also cites how UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Mr. António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres, has repeatedly stated that environmentally displaced people in general cannot be considered refugees, p. 4.
78.
McAdam points out how it would be more appropriate for States to designate particular countries as demonstrating sufficient, objective characteristics to justify this movement, rather than having each individual proving how climate change is personally affecting them, in McAdam (2011b), p. 119.
79.
Moberg (2009), p. 1115.
80.
McAdam (2011b), p. 103.
81.
First meeting to discuss a Protocol on environmental refugees: recognition of environmental refugees in the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the status of refugees, 14 and 15 August 2006, Maldives.
82.
McAdam (2011b), p. 103.
83.
Ramos (2011), p. 114.
84.
Grant, et al. (2009), http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/nov/30/rich-west-climate-change.
85.
Available on the internet at: http://www.cidce.org/pdf/Draft%20Convention%20on%20the%20International%20Status%20on%20environmentally%20displaced%20persons%20(second%20version).pdf, Accessed on 15 January 2012.
86.
Hodkinson at al. (2010).
87.
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment was adopted on 10 December 1984, and came into force on 26 June 1987.
88.
Falstrom (2001), p. 11.
89.
Biermann and Boas (2008), p. 12.
90.
They highlight three main possible causes, sea level rise, extreme weather events, and drought and water scarcity, p. 10.
91.
Biermann and Boas (2008), pp. 12-13.
92.
Docherty and Giannini (2009), p. 368.
93.
Docherty and Giannini (2009), p. 360.
94.
Docherty and Giannini (2009), p. 372.
95.
Docherty and Giannini (2009), p. 369.
96.
Art. 33 of the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees states that 1. “No Contracting State shall expel or return (refouler) a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. 2. The benefit of the present provision may not, however, be claimed by a refugee whom there are reasonable grounds for regarding as a danger to the security of the country in which he is, or who, having been convicted by a final judgment of a particularly serious crime, constitutes a danger to the community of that country.
97.
As explained previously, the subjective criteria requires that the applicant has a well-founded fear of being persecuted by their own government.
98.
Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development (FIELD) 2011, p. 7.
99.
See Chimni (1998), pp. 364–365, although many policies which were put into practice regarding refugee issues are also not necessarily based on empirical studies. Chimni explains how the theory of voluntary repatriation of refugees was not a result of extensive studies of the issues involved, but rather the combination between convenient theory, untested assumptions and the interests of States serving the interests of developed countries.
100.
One example is that there are nearly as many internal migrants in China alone (approximately 130 million people) as international migrants in all countries (estimated in 190 million in 2005) in Barnet and Webber (2009), p. 15.
101.
McAdam (2011a), pp. 1–26, and Myers (2001), p. 162.
102.
McAdam (2011b), p. 106.
103.
Castles refers to Wood, William B. In Castles (2002), pp. 1–2.
104.
McAdam (2011b), p. 106.
105.
It is important to note that if these other socio-economical factors were not important, then they would not be worth mentioning.
106.
The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families was ratified by 45 States and has 34 signatories in May 2012. The States which ratified the Convention are the ones who are sending the workers and not the ones who are receiving them. Available on the internet at http://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-13&chapter=4&lang=en.
107.
McAdam (2011a), p. 14.
108.
For many Pacific Island Nations the cases of Australia or New Zealand are often cited as possible host countries, due not only to the local proximity but other past and present cultural and historical links. Other possible destinations could include developing countries such as the Philippines or Indonesia, though it might be more difficult for these countries as they will themselves be facing increasing pressures due to the effects of climate change.
109.
Hodgkinson et al. referring to Biermann and Boas, p. 15.
110.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, 22 July 1998, E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3c3da07f7.html.
111.
Mutua (2001), p. 208.
112.
See Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, VB1-01229 in which the claimant argued that was fearing the excessive radiation leaking from damaged nuclear reactors in Fukushima and the panel rejected her claim since the risk was generalized and not specific as required by the Refugee Convention.
113.
Bosweel (2002), http://isanet.ccit.arizona.edu/noarchive/boswell.html.
114.
See Chimni (1998), p. 351. The author describes how after the Cold War finished and the refugee did not possess any ideological value. Developed countries started applying restrictive measures for the entrance of refugees.
115.
Bosweel (2002), http://isanet.ccit.arizona.edu/noarchive/boswell.html.
116.
Chimni (1998), p. 3.
117.
Chimni (1998), p. 3.
118.
Chimni (1998), p. 3.
119.
Kälin (2001), p. 2.
120.
Castles (2002), p. 12
121.
See UN High Commissioner for Refugees (2011b), p. 12, or McAdam (2011b), p. 116.
122.
Mutua (2001), pp. 201-245.
123.
Art. 1(3)The present Protocol shall be applied by the States Parties hereto without any geographic limitation, save that existing declarations made by States already Parties to the Convention in accordance with Art. I B (I) (a) of the Convention, shall, unless extended under Art. I B (2) thereof, apply also under the present Protocol.
124.
Mutua (2001),p. 216.
125.
Knox (2009), p. 489.
126.
Mutua (2001), p. 228.
127.
The Rasmussen report shows data that claims that 39% of the interviewed people believe that climate change is due to planetary trends and 40% believe that this is due to human activity. The http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/environment_energy/energy_update. Note that we are not climate sceptics, and that the inclusion of this footnote is merely to acknowledge that views on what is causing climate change are not necessarily uniform.
128.
Weiss (2008), p. 616.
129.
Beyerlin (2006), p. 266.
130.
Quoted in Najam (2005), p. 308.
131.
Quoted in Beyerlin (2006), p. 282.
132.
Displacement Solutions (2009), p. 8.
133.
Soft law is a non legally binding instrument, such as principles, declarations, resolutions, etc.
134.
The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement is a non binding instrument based on international humanitarian and human rights law and analogous refugee law, serving as an international standard to guide governments, international organizations and all other relevant actors in providing assistance and protection to IDPs.
135.
Abe (2005), p. 233.
136.
Mickelson (2009), p. 411.
137.
McAdam (2007), pp. 2–3.
138.
Art. 3(1) of the UN Declaration on Territorial Asylum unanimously adopted by the General Assembly in 1967 [res. 2312 (XXII)]. “No person referred to in Art. 1, paragraph 1, shall be subjected to measures such as rejection at the frontier or, if he has already entered the territory in which he seeks asylum, expulsion or compulsory return to any State where he may be subjected to persecution.” The OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa of 1969 gives expression in binding form to a number of important principles relating to asylum, including the principle of non-refoulement. According to Art. II (3): “No person shall be subjected by a Member State to measures such as rejection at the frontier, return or expulsion, which would compel him to return to or remain in a territory where his life, physical integrity or liberty would be threatened for the reasons set out in Art. I, paragraphs 1 and 2.”Art. 22(8) of the American Human Rights Convention adopted in November 1969 provides that “In no case may an alien be deported or returned to a country, regardless of whether or not it is his country of origin, if in that country his right to life or personal freedom is in danger of being violated because of his race, nationality, religion, social status or political opinions.” In the Resolution on Asylum to Persons in Danger of Persecution, adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on 29 June 1967, it is recommended that member governments should be guided by the following principles: “1. They should act in a particularly liberal and humanitarian spirit in relation to persons who seek asylum on their territory. 2. They should, in the same spirit, ensure that no one shall be subjected to refusal of admission at the frontier, rejection, expulsion or any other measure which would have the result of compelling him to return to, or remain in, a territory where he would be in danger of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.” Art. III (3) of the Principles concerning the Treatment of Refugees adopted by the Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee at its Eighth Session in Bangkok in 1966, states that: “No one seeking asylum in accordance with these Principles should, except for overriding reasons of national security or safeguarding the populations, be subjected to measures such as rejection at the frontier, return or expulsion which would result in compelling him to return to or remain in a territory if there is a well-founded fear of persecution endangering his life, physical integrity or liberty in that territory.” The United Nations Convention against Torture Art. 3 provides that no State Party shall expel, return (“refouler”) or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he or she would be in danger of being subjected to torture. In the same way, Art. 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights has been interpreted as prohibiting the return of persons to places where torture or persecution is feared. Art. 3 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms has been interpreted by the European Court of Human Rights as implicitly prohibiting the return of anyone to a place where they would face a “real and substantiated” risk of ill-treatment in breach of the prohibition of torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
139.
Number 6, European Union: Council of the European Union, Council Directive 2004/83/EC of 29 April 2004 on Minimum Standards for the Qualification and Status of Third Country Nationals or Stateless Persons as Refugees or as Persons Who Otherwise Need International Protection and the Content of the Protection Granted, 19 May 2004, 2004/83/EC, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4157e75e4.html [accessed 27 February 2012].
140.
Art. 2(e) Qualification Directive.
141.
Art. 15. Qualification Directive.
142.
Kolmannskog and Myrstad (2009), p. 4.
143.
Art. 1, European Union: Council of the European Union, Council Directive 2001/55/EC of 20 July 2001 on Minimum Standards for Giving Temporary Protection in the Event of a Mass Influx of Displaced Persons and on Measures Promoting a Balance of Efforts Between Member States in Receiving such Persons and Bearing the Consequences Thereof, 7 August 2001, OJ L.212-223 7.8.2001, 2001/55/EC, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3ddcee2e4.html .Accessed 27 February 2012.
144.
Mandal (2005), p. 3.
145.
Law nº 9.474/97.
146.
Claro (2012), p. 68.
147.
US (1965) Immigration and Nationality Act.
148.
Currently, the United States is providing this type of status to El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan, http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=848f7f2ef0745210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=848f7f2ef0745210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD.
149.
Section 88 Need for protection (1).
150.
Chapter 5 Refugees and others in need of protection 2 § nr. 3. English version of the Swedish law is available at http://www.sweden.gov.se/content/1/c6/06/61/22/fd7b123d.pdf.
151.
Kolmannskog (2009), p. 4.
152.
Williams (2008), p. 518.
153.
Displacement Solutions (2009), p. 35.
154.
Williams (2008), p. 515.
155.
Displacement Solutions (2009), p. 22.
156.
Maclellan (2009), p. 36.
157.
Boege (2010), p. 22.
158.
Assuming that the population growth rate stays the same, allowing 75 people in Tuvalu to emigrate (out of a total population of just over 10,000) each year to New Zealand would only ensure that the population remains stable in the future, according to the authors’ own calculations. For the case of Kiribati much larger numbers would be required each year just to keep the population from growing.
159.
Assuming that the population growth rate stays the same, allowing 75 people in Tuvalu to emigrate (out of a total population of just over 10,000) each year to New Zealand would only ensure that the population remains stable in the future, according to the authors’ own calculations. For the case of Kiribati much larger numbers would be required each year just to keep the population from growing.
160.
Assuming that the population growth rate stays the same, allowing 75 people in Tuvalu to emigrate (out of a total population of just over 10,000) each year to New Zealand would only ensure that the population remains stable in the future, according to the authors’ own calculations. For the case of Kiribati much larger numbers would be required each year just to keep the population from growing.
161.
Maclellan (2009), p. 37.
162.
McAdam (2009), p. 30.
163.
Climate-change displaced people and Housing, Land and Property Rights. Preliminary Strategies for Rights-Based Planning and Programming to Resolve Climate-Induced Displacement. Report by Displacement Solutions 2009 p. 21.
164.
McAdam (2009), p. 30.
165.
Williams (2008), p. 519 The UNFCCC states in Art. 19(b) that all parties shall agree to “formulate, implement, publish and regularly update national and, where appropriate, regional programmes containing measures to mitigate climate change and measures to facilitate adequate adaptation to climate change”.
166.
Dupuy (1991), p. 420.
167.
International Council on Human Rights Policy (2006), p. 16.
168.
Guzman and Meyer (2010), p. 173.
169.
McAnaney (2012), p. 1202.
170.
McAnaney (2012), p. 1202.
171.
Abbot and Snidal (2000), pp 434-444.
172.
Köppel (2009), p. 824.
173.
Abe (2005), p. 233.
174.
Chinkin (2000), p. 41.
175.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (2008), p. 2.
176.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (2008), p. 14.
177.
McAdam (2012a), p. 4.
178.
Kälin (2012), p. 48.
179.
Kälin (2012), p. 48.
180.
The difficult situation of stateless people relates to the problem that international law is based on legal instruments which establish relations between States. If the individual does not have a nationality, i.e., the element that connects her/him to the State, it means that this person will not enjoy any international rights before international law. See Batchelor (1995), p. 233.
181.
UNHCR (2009).
182.
The prevention of statelessness is connected to the right to nationality provided by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in its Art. 15.
183.
Celebrating the 60^th anniversary of the 1951 Geneva Convention and the 40^th anniversary of the 1961 Convention on the Status of Stateless Persons.
184.
The papers of this roundtable are available at http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/search?page=&comid=4e01e63f2&keywords=Bellagio-meeting.
185.
According to the UNHCR 2010, 2009 Global Trends. Refugees, Asylum-seekers, Returnees, Internally Displaced and Stateless Persons. http://www.unhrc.org/statistics Accessed 24th December 2011. In 2009 there were almost 6.6 million stateless persons in the world, though the real number worldwide was estimated to be around 12 million people.
186.
McAdam (2012a), p. 140.
187.
Bustamante Code Art. 13 states that “In collective naturalizations, in case of the independence of a State, the law of the acquiring or new State shall apply, if it has established in the territory an effective sovereignty which has been recognized by the State trying the issue, and in the absence thereof that of the old State, all without prejudice to the contractual stipulations between the two interested States, which shall always have preference”. See Blackman (1997–1998), p. 1152.
188.
UNHCR organized a meeting to discuss the concept of stateless persons under international law, Expert meeting organized by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Prato, Italy, 27-28 May 2010, summary is available at http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home/opendocPDFViewer.html?docid=4cb2fe326&query=prato.
189.
Cournil (2011), p. 367.
190.
UNHCR (2005), p. 34.
191.
Blitz (2009), p. 9.
192.
Blitz (2009), p. 9.
193.
UNHCR (2009), p. 2.
194.
UNHCR (2009), p. 3.
195.
Cournil (2011), p. 368.
196.
At the time of writing this book Somalia was still in civil war, and even now it is unclear how much functions the internationally recognised government can provide, as it is restricted to the capital and some narrow areas of land.
197.
New Zealand Immigration (2010).
198.
McAdam and Saul (2008), p. 9.
199.
Kolmannskog and Trebbi (2010), p. 6.
200.
UNHCR (22-25 February 2011) Summary of Deliberations of the expert meeting on Climate Change and Displacement, p. 2, available on the internet at http://www.unhcr.org/4da2b5e19.html, para.30.
201.
United Nations General Assembly, A/64/350, 11^th Sept 2009, sixty-fourth session, item 114 of the provisional agenda.
202.
UNHCR (2009), Climate Change and Statelessness: An Overview. 6^th session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-Term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA 6) under the UNFCCC, 1-12 June 2009, Bonn, Germany.
203.
League of Nations, Convention on Certain Questions Relating to the Conflict of Nationality Law, 13 April 1930, League of Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 179, p. 89, No. 4137, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3ae6b3b00.html.
204.
Hailbronner (2006), p. 37.
205.
Advisory Opinion on Proposed Amendments to the Naturalization Provision of the Constitution of Costa Rica, OC-4/84, Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACrtHR), 19 January 1984, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/44e492b74.html, paragraphs 32-34.
206.
Nottebohm Case (Liechtenstein v. Guatemala); Second Phase, International Court of Justice (ICJ), 6 April 1955, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3ae6b7248.html.
207.
See Hailbronner (2006), p. 59. As Hailbronner notes the jus soli principle might have had its justification in the nineteenth century and first half of the twentieth century since most of people who were travelling abroad intended to emigrate, which does not occur nowadays.
208.
Unless of course they could naturalize through some other process.
209.
Refugee Studies Centre (2009), p. 41.
210.
Such as Hawaii, which is part of the US.
211.
One example of how birth in a given State does not guarantee nationality is that of Koreans in Japan. Resident Koreans are not considered stateless because they are covered by nationality laws of Republic of Korea and Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. See UNHCR (2010), p. 57.
212.
UNHCR (2011a), p. 19.
213.
There are a number of examples for this. Descendants of Japanese people in Brazil are able, for example, to obtain work visas in Japan with relative easy, as compared to other Brazilians not of Japanese descent.
214.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child, Art. 7(1) states that “national governments must register children immediately after birth, and children enjoy the right from birth to acquire a nationality.” Art. 24 of the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Civil and Political rights states that “every child shall be registered immediately afterbirth and shall have a name,” and that “every child has the right to acquire a nationality.” The International Convention on the rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (Migrant Convention) also provides in its Art. 29 that“ every child of a migrant worker shall have the right to a name, to registration of birth and to a nationality.”, the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, Article the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Nationality of Married Women.
215.
General Assembly Resolution 55/153. A/55/PV.84, GA/9845. 12 December 2000 available on the interney:http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N00/568/57/PDF/N0056857.pdf?OpenElement.
216.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (2011a), p. 19.
217.
Example of such cases include Yemen, Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, USSR, Estonia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Latvia, Lithuania or the former Yugoslav Republic.
218.
Protection of global climate for present and future generations of mankind, UN General Assembly resolution 43/53 of 6 December 1988, 54/222 of 22 December 1999, 62/86 of 10 December 2007, 63/32 of 26 November 2008 and 64/73 of 7 December 2009,65/159.
219.
McAdam (2009), p. 14.
220.
14^th of November 2007. Available on the internet at http://www.ciel.org/Publications/Male_Declaration_Nov07.pdf.
221.
Söderbergh (2011), p. 20.
222.
Söderbergh (2011), p. 3.
223.
Limon (2010), p. 551.
224.
UN General Assembly, Climate change and its possible security implications: report of the Secretary-General, 11 September 2009, A/64/350, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4ad5e6380.html [accessed 15 August 2012].
225.
OAS, Resolution 2619, 7 June 2009.
226.
OAS, Resolution 2619, 7 June 2009, para.2, p. 18.
227.
Para.4 the Resolution.
228.
Bodansky (2010), p. 516.
229.
Biofuels from food crops such as maize, sugarcane, soybeans, palm oil and others have been identified as potentially important mitigation strategies. However biofuel production and use can have significant negative social impacts affecting, for example, food security and land rights. See Gasparatos and Stromberg (2012) or Gasparatos et al. (2011), p. 111.
230.
Outcome of the work of the Ad Hoc Working Group on long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention, Draft Decision, CP. 16 preamble (2010). As cited by Söderbergh (2011), p. 3.
231.
Knox (2009), p. 489.
232.
Knox (2009), p. 489.
233.
Bodansky (2010), p. 519.
234.
This is discussed in more detail in Chaps. 2 and 3 of this book and in the IPCC 4AR.
235.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (2011b).
236.
That is that human rights violations are established after harm takes place.
237.
Human Rights Committee, Mrs. Vaihere Bordes v, Mr. John Temeharo v. France, Communication No.645, para.5., Aalbersberg and 2,084 other Dutch citizens v. Netherlands, Communication No. 1440/2005, para. 6.3.
238.
Human Rights Committee, S. Aumeeruddy-Cziffa and 19 Other Mauritian Women v. Mauritius, Communication No. 35/1978, para.9.1.
239.
13. Obligation to avoid causing harm. States must desist from acts and omissions that create real risk of nullifying or impairing the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights extraterritorially. The responsibility of States is engaged where such nullification or impairment is a foreseeable result of their conduct. Uncertainty about potential impacts does not constitute justification for such conduct. 14. Impact assessment and prevention. States must conduct prior assessment, with public participation, of the risks and potential extraterritorial impacts of their laws, policies and practices on the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights. The results of the assessment must be made public. The assessment must also be undertaken to inform the measures that States must adopt to prevent violations or ensure their cessation as well as to ensure effective remedies.
240.
Burns (1997), p. 163.
241.
Burns (1997), p. 165.
242.
Trindade (1992), p. 263.
243.
European Court of Human Rights, Soering v. United Kingdom, application no. 14038/88.
244.
Art, 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights “No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
245.
Trindade (1992), p. 257.
246.
Trindade (1992), pp. 261-262.
247.
Maclellan (2009).
248.
See Approaches to address loss and damage associated with climate change impacts in developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change to enhance adaptive capacity, FCCC/CP/2012/L.4/Rev.1, available at http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2012/cop18/eng/l04r01.pdf.
249.
Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (2009) Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for human rights on the relationship between climate change and human rights.
250.
Popovski and Mundy (2011), p. 10.
251.
The International Council on Human Rights Policy (2008), pp. 4–5.
252.
Refugee Studies Centre (2011), p. 6.
253.
Note that this number will probably dramatically increase in the future, as stated earlier. However, at present there are few people clearly displaced due to these reasons. Note also that those displaced are not only from Atoll Island States but from many other countries.
254.
Refugee Studies Centre (2011), p. 16.
255.
Of course it could be argued that not all of it remains there, as some has been re-absorbed by forests or the sea (contributing to ocean acidification, which nevertheless poses problems for the corals on which Atoll Islands rely for their survival). Nevertheless, since this time at least a fraction of these gases has contributed to the increase in greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.
256.
Byravan and Rajan (2010), p. 243.
257.
See discussion in Barnett and Campbell (2010), p. 10.
258.
Such as for example Burkett (2008), p. 169.
259.
In criminal law the concept of Mens rea can take three forms: dolus directus (direct intent), where the consequences of an action were both foreseen and desired by the perpetrator. Here, for example, a perpetrator desires the death of a victim and foresees that a certain act will bring about the death of the victim;- dolus indirectus (indirect intent), where secondary consequences in addition to those desired by a perpetrator of an act were foreseen by the perpetrator as a certain result, although the perpetrator did not specifically desire these secondary consequences, he still committed the act with knowledge of them; and- dolus eventualis, where a perpetrator foresees consequences other than those directly desired as a possibility, and not necessarily a certainty, but nevertheless proceeds with a criminal act, see Vyver (1999), p. 307.
260.
Blake Case, Judgement on the Preliminary Objections of July 2, 1996 Inter-Am. Ct. H.R.
261.
Söderbergh argues that State responsibility regarding the human rights-related impact of climate change would have been triggered in the early 1990s with the first warnings issues by climatologists, though the first IPCC reports did not have the level of understanding regarding climate that exists in the IPCC 4AR. He draws also a parallel with tobacco litigation in the United States, were proof of the tobacco companies’ knowledge of the harm their products cause was critical in the outcome of the cases, in Söderbergh (2011), p. 21.
262.
Weiss (1992), p. 385.
263.
Sixth Proclamation in the preamble, Stockholm Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, U.N, Doc.A/Conf.48/14 (1972).
264.
Weiss (1992), p. 391.
265.
Söderbergh (2011), p. 20.
266.
Burkett (2008), p. 169.
267.
Söderbergh (2011), p. 20.
268.
Söderbergh (2011), p. 20.
269.
Weiss (1992), p. 387.
270.
These points are discussed in the IPCC 4AR and in Byravan and Rajan (2010), p. 245.
271.
Such as the melting of ice caps, its consequent sea level rise, or increased ocean acidification, as outlined in Chap. 3.
272.
These points are discussed in the IPCC 4AR and in Byravan and Rajan (2010), p. 245.
273.
Rawls (1971).
274.
Weiss (1992), p. 396.
275.
The question of equity between generations is provided by Art. 3(1) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: “The Parties should protect the climate system for the benefit of present and future generations of humankind, on the basis of equity and in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. Accordingly, the developed country Parties should take the lead in combating climate change and the adverse effects thereof.”
276.
Weiss (2008), p. 622.
277.
Weiss (1992), p. 401.
278.
Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (2009) Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for human rights on the relationship between climate change and human rights.
279.
Other obstacles to the recognition of climate change as human rights violations are (1) “it is virtually impossible to disentangle the complex causal relationships” linking the emissions of a particular country to a specific effect; n42 (2) “global warming is often one of several contributing factors to climate change-related effects, such as hurricanes [or] environmental degradation” which makes it “often impossible” to establish how such an event is attributable to global warming; U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights [OHCHR], Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the Relationship Between Climate Change and Human Rights, U.N. Doc. A/HRC/10/61 (Jan. 15, 2009).
280.
Dissenting Opinion of Judges Guerrero, Sir Arnold McNair, Read, Hsu Mo relating to Reservations to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide to the Advisory Opinion , ICJ, 28 May 1951, .p. 35, available at http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?p1=3&p2=4&k=90&case=12&code=ppcg&p3=4 at 15 January 2010.
281.
One such example is the Moiwana Village case in which the question examined was that of a massacre of an ethnic group descending from “Bush Negroes” or “Maroons”, who fled enslavement and lived in independent communities. On 29 November 1986 a village belonging to the N’djuka community was surrounded, its property burned, and many members of the community were killed, causing the displacement of survivors to other regions. The American Convention on Human Rights entered into force for Suriname on November 12, 1987, and the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court on Human Rights (IACtHR) was recognised on the same date. The Moiwana massacre occurred before the State of Suriname ratified the American Convention on Human Rights and accepted IACtHR’s jurisdiction, a fact which led the State of Suriname to question the competence ratione temporis of IACtHR. Suriname claimed that the Court lacked jurisdiction ratione temporis once IACHR treated it as a Convention State for the entire case, applying the Convention to the State ex post facto. Regarding the violations which occurred before the Convention entered into force for Suriname, IACHR recognized the violation of Arts. I, VII, IX, XXIII of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man and violations of a continuing nature, occurring after the Convention entered into force for the State. Suriname claimed that the only continuing violations IACtHR had recognized were forced disappearances, which were not at issue in the case. The IACHR replied to the State’s claims by stating that Suriname had been treated as a State party to the Convention with respect to the entirety of the claims once the claims directly connected to the attack and related violations were argued to be violations to the Declaration. The representatives then argued that the denial of justice in the case and omission had a continuing nature. The Court emphasized that in the case of a continuing or permanent violation, which begins before the acceptance and lasts till after the acceptance of the Court’s jurisdiction, the Tribunal is competent to examine the actions and omissions occurring after the recognition of jurisdiction. However, the Court admitted that it did not have jurisdiction to hear the facts related to the attack and death of the victims as they had occurred before the State of Suriname ratified the Convention. Nonetheless, the Court concluded that the failure to investigate, prosecute and punish those responsible for the massacre constituted ongoing violations to the Arts. 8 and 25 of the Convention, right to humane treatment (Art. 5), freedom of movement (Art. 22), and property (Art. 21). See also IACtHR, Blake v. Guatemala (Preliminary objections) 2 July 1996, IACHR, Andres Aylwin Azocar and otros v. Chile (Report No. 137/99, Case No.11.863).
282.
Martin (2010), p. 6.
283.
Atapattu (2009), p. 607.
284.
International Organization for Migration (2007).
285.
Shamsuddoha and Chowdhury (2009), http://www.glogov.org/images/doc/equitybd.pdf.
286.
Climate-change displaced people and Housing, Land and Property Rights. Preliminary Strategies for Rights-Based Planning and Programming to Resolve Climate-Induced Displacement. Report by Displacement Solutions, p. 22 http://displacementsolutions.org/files/documents/DS_Climate_change_strategies.pdf.
287.
And eventually defeated in Parliament in 2007, see Martin (2010), p. 5.
288.
Martin (2010), p. 5.
289.
And it should be understood that it is possible that some of the Atoll Island States could actually engineer solutions to these problems, as highlighted in Chap. 5.
290.
Tsosie (2007), p. 1625.
291.
Tsosie (2007), p. 1625.

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Londrina, Brazil
Lilian Yamamoto
Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Chiba, Japan
Miguel Esteban

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Yamamoto, L., Esteban, M. (2014). Climate Change Displacement in Atoll Island States. In: Atoll Island States and International Law. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-38186-7_7

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-38186-7_7
Published: 17 July 2013
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