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- Title
Environmental 'Refugees': Should the UNHCR Enlarge Its Mandate to Include Environmental Migrants?
- Authors
Urosevic, Nevena
- Abstract
One of the most significant consequences of the increasingly alarming environmental reality is human migration. Labeling and defining these environmental migrants has been difficult. The term "environmental refugee" is most frequently used," however this is inaccurate because the refugee definition is restricted in a way which does not allow for the inclusion of environmental causes. The most severe cases of environmental migrants are those who live in island nations and are forced to leave their homes due to rising water and potential submersion. This paper argues that due to the severity of the situation these islanders face and the fact that the UNHCR has the mechanisms and tools set in place to deal with forced population displacement, it would be the best organism to deal with these migrants. The paper also endeavors to show how these migrants could fit into the existing refugee definition. Finally, it provides creative solutions for the main obstacle to such a change: lack of political will among member states.
- Subjects
ENVIRONMENTAL refugees; UNITED Nations. Commission on Human Rights; EMIGRATION &; immigration; ISLANDS; ENVIRONMENTAL degradation
- Publication
Undercurrent, 2009, Vol 6, Issue 3, p27
- ISSN
1712-0934
- Publication type
Article