Thailand - The International Organization for Migration and the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) yesterday launched a joint report entitled “Human Rights, Climate Change, Environmental Degradation and Migration: A New Paradigm”. 

The paper is the eighth in the “Issues in Brief” series, and was launched at a meeting held in the Thai capital Bangkok, reflecting the specific climate change and migration challenges facing Asia and the Pacific.

Climate-vulnerable countries such as Bangladesh and low-lying island states including the Maldives and Kiribati have been vocal in calling for better legal protection for their populations, likely to become forcibly displaced in the coming years.  The Asia-Pacific region is also exposed to an increasing number of extreme weather events such as typhoon Haiyan which struck the Philippines last November.

The launch was attended by representatives from the international community, academia and civil society organizations and featured panelists Edgar Badajos, Minister and Consul General, Embassy of the Philippines in Thailand and Thomas Vargas, UNHCR's senior regional protection advisor in Bangkok.

Discussing the Philippines’ frequent exposure to natural disasters and the devastating effects on the local population, Mr. Bajados remarked: “With climate change and environmental degradation predicted to displace millions of people in the coming years, the definition of internal displacement needs to be expanded to include climate change.”

Rabab Fatima, co-author of the report and IOM’s Regional Advisor for Climate Change and Migration, commented at the launch: “There is growing international recognition that climate change will influence human mobility, and there is clearly a need for better understanding of this phenomenon to ensure the protection of   this new group of vulnerable population.”

The paper emphasizes the need to address this emerging challenge particularly in the highly vulnerable Asia-Pacific region, by pursuing an integrated approach to climate change that incorporates rights-based strategies.

The issue in brief evaluates the current human rights framework; identifies gaps both in the legal framework and in implementation; and then reviews different options available to the international community.

One of the gaps in the global response is the absence of consensus in how to define this group, which limits recognition and assistance, the report argues. IOM proposes the working title “environmental migrants”, which includes possible situations of forced and voluntary, short- and long-term, and internal and international migration.

Finally, the brief makes recommendations on how to strengthen the “soft law” approach as an interim step before there is broad global consensus on a possible binding framework to protect the rights of these environmental migrants.

For more information please contact

Rabab Fatima
IOM Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok
Email: rfatima@iom.int