Climate refugees and political borders: An emerging crisis in environmental and International policies

Abstract

One of the most important global policy and environmental institution issues in recent days is the climate refugee phenomenon. The climate refugees confronting unsecured legal status and, appalling, human rights violations as well as dangerous access to basic services. The scale of this crisis grows ever more pronounced from day to day, and given its highly endemic character it is doubtful that existing international instruments, particularly the 1951 Refugee Convention, are in a position to offer effectively to the distinct dangers and vulnerabilities of climate-displaced people. As a special emphasis, the article focuses on case studies in the Pacific Islands, Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, where climate displacement is severely afflicting, disproportionate to the rest of the world. Moreover, the article discusses the boundaries between migration of climate refugees across international borders under the Constraint of strained resources, national security access and social integration. To avoid this coming crisis the article advocates for global policies that are inclusive that would include environmental sustainability, human rights protection and equitable resource allocation. For instance, there is a need for cooperative international action which revises existing legal instruments and institutes some new paradigms for climate migration to relative justice and security for climate refugees.