208
(IDMC) and the Norwegian Refugee Council identified natural disasters as the
prime cause for this phenomenon. With rising sea levels, desertification and extreme
weather events, climate action must be a part of any meaningful agreement on refugees or migrants. Lester Brown categorized environmental migrants into three categories: (a) who are temporarily displaced but can return to their home after the
original situation, which been affected by any environmental damage are restored,
(b) those who are permanently displaced and shifted to another place, and (c) those
who migrate voluntarily from their homeland to achieve better life (El-Hinnawi 1985).
Recently a huge number of environmentally displaced or environmentally forced
migrants are tagged as ‘refugees’, even though it is against the 1951 Convention
definition of all forced migrants (Zetter 2007). Yet, paradoxically, the label ‘refugee’ is increasingly being used to designate any group of forced migrants such as
‘environmental refugees’, ‘tsunami refugees’ and ‘development refugees’ who are
undoubtedly forced out of their normal habitats. A ‘refugee’ is defined as a person
who has crossed an international border owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social
group or political opinion (UNHCR 2010).
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) puts climate change as a
‘threat multiplier’, as it increases the pressure on vulnerable communalities by contributing to multiple ‘drivers of migration’ like increasing frequency and intensity of
extreme events such as sea level rise, drought, flood, heat wave, poverty and many
more – which not always – but may sometime lead to displacement. Environmental
migrants are those ‘persons or groups of persons who, predominantly for reasons of
sudden or progressive changes in the environment that adversely affect their lives or
living conditions, are obliged to leave their surroundings, or choose to do so- either
temporarily or permanently- and who move within their country or abroad’ (IOM
2014). Environmentally displaced persons refer to those ‘who are displaced within
their country of habitual residence or who have crossed an international border and
for whom environmental degradation, deterioration, or destruction is a major cause
of their displacement, although not necessarily the sole one’ (IOM 2014).
Although there is no internationally accepted legal definition of ‘displaced person’, the concept of ‘internally displaced persons’ (IDPs) is relevant when displacements occur internally. IDPs are the population displaced intra-state or nation, who
may or may not receive protection; while refugees are actually those who have been
forced to leave their country due to natural or socio-economic chaos, they are unable
to seek protection and shelter from their own country. Planned relocation refers to
persons whose livelihoods have been re-built in another place (IOM 2014). It also
refers to the collective movement of a community, the ‘permanent (or long-term)
movement of a community (or a significant part of it) from one location to another,
in which important characteristics of the original community, including its social
structures, legal and political systems, cultural characteristics and worldviews are
retained: the community stays together at the destination in a social form that is
similar to the community of origin’ (Campbell 2010).
The meaning of the term ‘climate refugee’ is most uncertain in the context of
legal definition and practice. The core issue here has to do with the effectiveness of
rights, and where there is no legal provision for an individual’s right as because of
A. Haldar et al.
(IDMC) and the Norwegian Refugee Council identified natural disasters as the
prime cause for this phenomenon. With rising sea levels, desertification and extreme
weather events, climate action must be a part of any meaningful agreement on refugees or migrants. Lester Brown categorized environmental migrants into three categories: (a) who are temporarily displaced but can return to their home after the
original situation, which been affected by any environmental damage are restored,
(b) those who are permanently displaced and shifted to another place, and (c) those
who migrate voluntarily from their homeland to achieve better life (El-Hinnawi 1985).
Recently a huge number of environmentally displaced or environmentally forced
migrants are tagged as ‘refugees’, even though it is against the 1951 Convention
definition of all forced migrants (Zetter 2007). Yet, paradoxically, the label ‘refugee’ is increasingly being used to designate any group of forced migrants such as
‘environmental refugees’, ‘tsunami refugees’ and ‘development refugees’ who are
undoubtedly forced out of their normal habitats. A ‘refugee’ is defined as a person
who has crossed an international border owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social
group or political opinion (UNHCR 2010).
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) puts climate change as a
‘threat multiplier’, as it increases the pressure on vulnerable communalities by contributing to multiple ‘drivers of migration’ like increasing frequency and intensity of
extreme events such as sea level rise, drought, flood, heat wave, poverty and many
more – which not always – but may sometime lead to displacement. Environmental
migrants are those ‘persons or groups of persons who, predominantly for reasons of
sudden or progressive changes in the environment that adversely affect their lives or
living conditions, are obliged to leave their surroundings, or choose to do so- either
temporarily or permanently- and who move within their country or abroad’ (IOM
2014). Environmentally displaced persons refer to those ‘who are displaced within
their country of habitual residence or who have crossed an international border and
for whom environmental degradation, deterioration, or destruction is a major cause
of their displacement, although not necessarily the sole one’ (IOM 2014).
Although there is no internationally accepted legal definition of ‘displaced person’, the concept of ‘internally displaced persons’ (IDPs) is relevant when displacements occur internally. IDPs are the population displaced intra-state or nation, who
may or may not receive protection; while refugees are actually those who have been
forced to leave their country due to natural or socio-economic chaos, they are unable
to seek protection and shelter from their own country. Planned relocation refers to
persons whose livelihoods have been re-built in another place (IOM 2014). It also
refers to the collective movement of a community, the ‘permanent (or long-term)
movement of a community (or a significant part of it) from one location to another,
in which important characteristics of the original community, including its social
structures, legal and political systems, cultural characteristics and worldviews are
retained: the community stays together at the destination in a social form that is
similar to the community of origin’ (Campbell 2010).
The meaning of the term ‘climate refugee’ is most uncertain in the context of
legal definition and practice. The core issue here has to do with the effectiveness of
rights, and where there is no legal provision for an individual’s right as because of
A. Haldar et al.