Climate Refugees
The World’s Forgotten Climate Crisis Victims
By: Nausheen Mazari
Editors + Contributors: Kadiatou Balde, Memona Hossain, Naz Qureshi & Hadeel Abbas
Who are Climate Refugees?
“Climate refugees” refers to individuals who are forcibly displaced from their homes due to the drastic and harsh impacts of environmental disasters. Climate refugees are either displaced internally, where they must move across various regions within a country; or externally, where they must move into another country.
According to the 2021 IPCC report, climate change could displace over 200 million by 2050, superseding all other forms of refugee displacement.
Climate Change and Safety Threats
Anthropogenic climate change causing continuing global warming and sea level rise at unprecedented high rates are linked to more occurences of sudden environmental disasters. Examples of environmental disasters include hurricanes, drought, storm surges and flooding which devastate natural resources crucial for survival.
The slow onset of climate change effects also adds to the complexity of food insecurity and water accessibility.
Read more about the consequences of sea level rise in our previous blog here
The Global Response to Climate Refugees
In 2018 the UN adopted the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.
The compact reiterates how the climate crisis exacerbates large-scale migration of individuals and communities. The compact also states forcibly displaced individuals should receive government protection in their arrival country.
“Whoever grants respite to someone in difficulty or alleviates him, Allah will shade him on the Day of Resurrection when there is no shade but his.”
(Sunan At-Tirmidhi 1306)
Does the current global response allow human rights protection?
“Climate change [is] now found to be the key factor accelerating all other drivers of forced displacement. Most of the people affected will remain in their own countries. They will be internally displaced. But if they cross a border, they will not be considered refugees. These persons are not truly migrants, in the sense that they did not move voluntarily. As forcibly displaced not covered by the refugee protection regime, they find themselves in a legal void.”
- António Guterres, UN Secretary-General, former UN High Commissioner for Refugees
Climate refugees are not currently protected under the UNHCR definition of refugees who are forcibly displaced due to climate and environmental changes. The non-refoulement principle which stipulates that a person who has migrated should not be deported/repatriated back to their original country, is not applied to climate refugees.
Climate justice is a human rights protection issue, as climate refugees receive inadequate support globally.
How Islam Addresses Climate Change Refugees
“Islamic traditions cannot always be neatly equated with modern protection mechanisms for forced migrants. For example, within the Islamic framework there is no differentiation between refugees, internally displaced persons and asylum seekers as there is in secular law. The first Muslims who migrated to Madinah with the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) were simply known as the muhajirun — the emigrants.
Moreover, the Qur’an emphasises the duty of those suffering oppression to seek refuge, asking ‘[is] God’s earth not spacious enough for you to migrate to some other place?’ (Q4:97). Forced migrants, in the Islamic traditions, are not perceived as helpless victims of circumstance or charity, but rather people who have taken an active choice to obey the command of God — to preserve their life and dignity.”
— Islamic Relief, The Rights of Forced Migrants in Islam
“Whoever fulfilled the needs of his brother, God will fulfil his needs; whoever brought his brother out of a discomfort, God will bring him out of the discomforts of the Day of Resurrection, and whoever screened [provided sanctuary to] a Muslim, God will screen [provide a sanctuary] to him on the Day of Resurrection.” (Bukhari)
Note: We are a group of BIPOC Muslims interested in the intersections between environmental justice and Islam. We are by no means Islamic scholars or academics and the information provided in this article came from the following sources.
Sources
World Economic Forum: Climate refugees — the world’s forgotten victims. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/06/climate-refugees-the-world-s-forgotten-victims/
Climate Refugees. https://www.climate-refugees.org/why
Islamic Relief: The Rights of Forced Migrants in Islam. https://www.islamic-relief.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/The-Rights-of-Forced-Migrants-in-Islam.pdf
