Climate Migration
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Natalia GarcíaClimate Migration
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Natalia GarcíaEditorial
Climate migration requires a global response
As a real, tangible anthropogenic climate crisis starts 2020, that it will not offer people refugee status on
to alter centuries of patterns of human behaviour, the grounds of climate. Illustrating the scale of the
Alejandro Granadillo/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
migration is beginning to take on a different shape. institutional problem afflicting climate migrants, the
Extreme weather events are becoming more common, German Government said in a statement: “people in
contributing to pre-existing drivers of migration, and as third countries who leave their homes solely because of
temperatures worldwide rise, previous patterns of land the negative consequences of climate change are not
use and habitation are becoming untenable. Climate refugees in the sense of the Geneva Refugee Convention
migrants are already seen globally; according to the under current international treaty law”. One only has
European Parliament, an average of 26·4 million people to look at the difficulties encountered by Bahamian
around the world have been displaced by weather events residents trying to enter the USA while fleeing Hurricane
every year since 2008. The UN estimates that there could Dorian to see that governments are manifestly
be as many as 1 billion climate migrants by 2050. The unprepared to help.
world is unprepared to deal with a population movement As the UCL–Lancet Commission on Migration and
on this scale, particularly with regard to migrant health. Health highlighted, most global migration occurs in
The International Organization for Migration’s low-income and middle-income countries, even though
(IOM) World Migration Report 2020 highlights just how much of the debate around migration occurs in high-
unprepared countries across the world are. Climate income countries. High-income countries, which are
migrants, unwillingly forced from their homes by the better equipped to address the health of migrants, largely
climate emergency, are fleeing situations in which their restrict their entry. Migrants who have fled disasters are
health is put at risk, but subsequently find their health more prone to ill health, and often have left a place with
threatened by the vagaries of an international system a health-care system that has been badly damaged by the
that is struggling to keep pace with the many harmful disaster they are fleeing. As occurs so often, the actions of
aspects of the climate crisis. There are also people high-income countries, in this instance their contribution
who are not displaced, but trapped, as often the most to the climate crisis, impact overwhelmingly on low-
vulnerable people have the fewest resources with which income and middle-income countries.
to escape a situation that threatens their health. While the world makes provisions for halting
Like refugees who flee their homes for fear of violence the climate emergency, we must recognise the
and persecution, climate migrants are at risk of stigma, impact it is having right now on the health of
restricted access to health care, limited access to work people worldwide. People forced from their homes
and the means to support themselves, and the fear over legitimate concerns about their health find
of deportation back to a place that threatens their themselves at the mercy of a system that offers them
health. According to the IOM report, disasters are now no legal protections, no recompense, no health care,
displacing more people than conflict and violence. and no safety. Universal health care for migrants,
Progress on basic recognition for climate migrants has as recommended in our Lancet Migration global
been slow. The first UN ruling that a refugee fleeing the collaboration, is a necessity for protecting the health For the International
effects of the climate emergency could not be returned of all migrants. Instituting just this, let alone other Organization for Migration’s
report see https://publications.
to their home country came in January, 2020, but only recommendations, including greater understanding iom.int/books/world-migration-
as part of a ruling that denied a Kiribati citizen asylum of patterns of migration, advocacy for the rights of report-2020
in New Zealand, on the grounds that the threat he faced migrants, and addressing the evidence gaps in the field For the UN ruling on climate
refugees see https://tbinternet.
was not imminent. Although this provides a potential of migration and health, demands a far greater level of ohchr.org/_layouts/15/
avenue for climate migrants on an international level, international coordination. To delay addressing these treatybodyexternal/Download.
aspx?symbolno=CCPR/C/127/
this provides little guarantee for action by individual issues any longer risks the health and wellbeing of the D/2728/2016&Lang=en
countries. millions of people who are already being displaced, let For the UCL–Lancet Commission
on Migration and Health see
Germany, which took in 1·3 million refugees fleeing alone those who face an uncertain future in a warming https://www.thelancet.com/
conflict in Syria during 2015 and 2016, said in February, world. n The Lancet commissions/migration-health