UNCLASSIFIED 1 Rights of Displaced Persons: Climate-driven Migration TEMPEST EXPRESS June 2016

UNCLASSIFIED Rights of Displaced Persons 2 Why is this important? These are the people you will assist in a crisis. –Estimates that by 2050, 25 million < 1 billion people displaced by climate change.  Equivalent to displacing entire population of Australia up to displacing 83% of population of India. You need to know: –Who they are; –What are their respective rights; and –Who is primarily responsible for their care and protection.

UNCLASSIFIED Rights of Displaced Persons: Agenda Concept of Humanitarian Protection; Refugees; Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs); Stateless Persons; Climate-displaced Migration Initiatives. 3

UNCLASSIFIED Humanitarian Protection: “The concept of protection encompasses all activities aimed at obtaining full respect for the rights of the individual in accordance with the letter and the spirit of the relevant bodies of law (i.e. HR [Human Rights] law, IHL [International Humanitarian Law], refugee law).” Third Workshop on Protection, Background paper, ICRC (7 January 1999), quoted in Protection of Internally Displaced Persons, Inter-Agency Standing Committee Policy Paper, New York, December 1999, page 4, bracketed insertions added. Humanitarian Protection

UNCLASSIFIED Protection done through: Promotion of ratification of rights-based treaties and adoption of rights-based guidelines; Assistance with enabling legislation; Education & capacity building of officials; Advocacy for affected persons; Quiet diplomacy; Monitoring & reporting; Care & maintenance; Physical presence; and Demarche / public denunciation. UNHCR Humanitarian Protection

UNCLASSIFIED Humanitarian Protection National Governments International Protection Organizations: –United Nations  UN High Commissioner for Refugees – UNHCR  UN Children’s Fund – UNICEF –International Organization for Migration - IOM –Red Cross / Red Crescent Movement  ICRC (conflict situations)  National societies –NGOs  International Rescue Committee – IRC  Danish Refugee Council – DRC  Norwegian Refugee Council – NRC

UNCLASSIFIED Refugees: Definition Definition of a “refugee” “[T]he term ‘refugee’ shall apply to any person who … … owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion … … is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country….” 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees 7 UNHCR

UNCLASSIFIED Refugees: Regional Definitions Africa “The term ‘refugee’ shall also apply to every person who, owing to external aggression, occupation, foreign domination or events seriously disturbing public order in either part or the whole of his country of origin or nationality, is compelled to leave his place of habitual residence in order to seek refuge in another place outside his country of origin or nationality.” OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, Art 1, para. 2 (1969) Mexico & Central America “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.” Cartagena Declaration on Refugees, § III, para. 3 (1984)

UNCLASSIFIED Primary protection activity for refugees: Prohibition against refoulement: “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.” 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees, Art. 33, § 1 Refugees: Protection against Refoulement

UNCLASSIFIED Refugees: Numbers As of mid-2015: 14.4 million refugees 51% under the age of 18 yrs. 10 Countries of origin for refugees: Syria4.2 million Afghanistan2.6 million Somalia1.1 million Countries where refugees seek asylum: Turkey1.8 million Pakistan1.5 million Lebanon1.2 million UNHCR UNHCR: Mid-year Trends 2015

UNCLASSIFIED Who is not a refugee – Persons not in need of protection: –Internally Displaced Persons – IDPs; –Persons protected by another UN agency, ex.: 5.1 million Palestinians under protection of UNRWA; –Migrants; Persons no longer in need of protection: –Refugees no longer subject to persecution in home country;  “Temporary Protection;” –Returnees; –Refugees with new nationalities; Persons not entitled to protection due to their status: –Criminals [war crimes, crimes against humanity, serious non- political crimes outside the country of asylum]; –Combatants [soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, rebels, etc.]. Refugees: Who is not a refugees

UNCLASSIFIED Refugees: Definition Definition of a “refugee” “[T]he term ‘refugee’ shall apply to any person who … … owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion … … is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country….” 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees Are climate-displaced persons refugees? 12

UNCLASSIFIED Definition of an “IDP” “[I]nternally displaced persons are persons or groups of persons who … … have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, … … and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border.” [Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement] Are climate-displaced persons IDPs? NRC IDMC IDPs: Definition

UNCLASSIFIED IDPs: Rights IDP rights: Generally, IDPs have the same rights as other citizens in their country; Rights against arbitrary displacement; Rights during displacement; –Protection and security; –Ask for and receive aid; –Keep and recover property; & Rights dealing with durable solutions. Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement UNHCR

UNCLASSIFIED IDPs: Protection of rights Protection of IDP rights: “National authorities have the primary duty and responsibility to provide protection and humanitarian assistance to internally displaced persons within their jurisdiction.” Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, Principle 3, ¶ 1. NRC / UNHCR Others actors? o International Community? o UN?  No UN agency with IDP mandate.

UNCLASSIFIED All IDPsConflict-driven IDPs 16 IDPS: Numbers, end of 2015 Total, all IDPs:Unknown New IDPs in 2015: 27.8 million in 127 countries 2015 new conflict-driven IDPs: 8.6 million in 28 countries 2015 new disaster-driven IDPs: 19.2 million in 113 countries Total, conflict- driven IDPs: 40.8 million New conflict- driven in 2015: 8.6 million in 28 countries Countries with highest conflict- driven IDPs in 2015: Yemen2.2 million Syria1.3 million Iraq1.1 million Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, NRC

UNCLASSIFIED IDPS: Numbers, end of 2015 Disaster-driven IDPs Countries with highest new disaster displacement per 100,000 persons: –Tuvalu54,800 –Vanuatu41,700 –Nepal9,200 –Micronesia6,500 –Chile5,800 –Myanmar3,000 –Paraguay2,600 –Kiribati2,200 –Philippines2, Total, all disaster- driven IDPs: Unknown New disaster- driven in 2015: 19.2 mil in 113 countries Countries with highest new disaster-driven IDPs in 2015: India3.7 million China3.6 million Nepal2.6 million Philippines2.2 million Myanmar1.6 million Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, NRC

UNCLASSIFIED Stateless Persons Stateless persons: “ ‘ [S]tateless person’ ” means a person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law.” [Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons Art. 1, ¶ 1] Citizenship through jus sanguinis and jus soli. 3.9 million Stateless in mid-2015; possibly more. Lead agency – UNHCR –Similar to refugee issues Conventions dealing with statelessness: –Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons; and –Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness Can climate-displaced persons be Stateless Persons? UNHCR

UNCLASSIFIED To date, no climate change-specific, rights-based, International Framework to protect and provide assistance to climate-displaced persons. –Current situation unprecedented.  Past laws dealt with political and conflict displacement.  Climate-driven issues new: Migration “voluntary,” “forced” or “somewhere in between;” “temporary” or “permanent?” –Existing legal frameworks not address climate issues:  In-country migration:  Human Rights Law (voluntary migration) and  IDP Guiding Principles (forced migration).  Cross-border, climate-driven, migration: Gap in policy.  No “Climate Refugees” or “Environmental Refugees.”  Nation no longer habitable due to climate change: Gap in policy.  When does the nation cease to exist? 19 Climate-driven Migration Initiatives

UNCLASSIFIED Increased Awareness of the Issue: “Environmental Migrants” “[P]ersons or groups of persons who, for reasons of sudden or progressive changes in the environment that adversely affect their lives or living conditions, are obliged to have to leave their homes, or choose to do so, either temporarily or permanently, and who move either within their territory or abroad.” International Organization for Migration Not “environmental refugee” or “climate-change refugee.” 20 Climate-driven Migration Initiatives

UNCLASSIFIED Increased awareness of the issue: Cancun Adaptation Framework (UNFCC, 1/CP.16, 2010) 14.Invites all Parties to enhance action on adaptation under the Cancun Adaptation Framework, taking into account their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, and specific national and regional development priorities, objectives and circumstances, by undertaking, inter alia, the following:... (f)Measures to enhance understanding, coordination and cooperation with regard to climate change induced displacement, migration and planned relocation, where appropriate, at the national, regional and international levels[.] Doha Decision (UNFCC, 3/CP.18, 2012) 7.Acknowledges the further work to advance the understanding of and expertise on loss and damage, which includes, inter alia, the following: (a) Enhancing the under-standing of:... (vi) How impacts of climate change are affecting patterns of migration, displacement and human mobility[.] 21 Climate-driven Migration Initiatives

UNCLASSIFIED Initiatives to address climate-driven displacement: Advisory Group on Climate Change and Human Mobility Members: UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), International Organization for Migration (IOM), UN University Institute for Environmental and Human Security (UNU-EHS), UN Development Programme (UNDP), Norwegian Refugee Council Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (NRC/IDMC), Refugees International (RI), Center for International Relations Studies de Sciences Po (Sciences Po-CRI), and Arab Network for Environment and Development (RAED). Goal: Provide technical support to UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Parties on human mobility in climate change and To ensure aspects of human mobility addressed under the UNFCCC are coherent and based on research, best practices, data, etc.. 22 Climate-driven Migration Initiatives

UNCLASSIFIED Climate-driven Migration Initiatives Initiatives to address climate-driven displacement: The Nansen Initiative Launched 2012 by Governments of Norway and Switzerland. Steering Group: –Chairs: Norway and Switzerland –Members: Australia, Bangladesh, Costa Rica, Germany, Kenya, Mexico and the Philippines –Standing invitees: UNHCR and IOM Purpose: State-led, bottom-up, consultative process to build consensus on development of a protection agenda for people displaced across international borders due to disasters and the effects of climate change. Product: The Agenda for Protection of Cross- Border Displaced Persons in the Context of Disasters and Climate Change. –Not a binding convention or treaty; rather –Rights-based guidance to nations and regional organizations:  setting out issues; and  Offering effective (“best”) practices to address issues of cross-border disaster and climate-driven migration. 23

UNCLASSIFIED Rights of Displaced Persons: Agenda Concept of Humanitarian Protection; Refugees; Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs); Stateless Persons; Climate-displaced Migration Initiatives. 24

UNCLASSIFIED Rights of Displaced Persons 25