Bogumil Terminski Environmentally-Induced Displacement ... - Cedem

advanced plane of international human rights protection. The environmental migrants willlikely be subject to progressive autonomy in the overall context of the protection of internallydisplaced persons.The Guiding Principles defines IDPs in a very broad, general and indeterminate way as“persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homesor places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects ofarmed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural orman-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border”(see paragraph 2). The definition is strongly determined by UNHCR’s IDP framework (seefollowing pages). However, as Angela Williams pointed out, the IDP framework may be bettersolution than traditional refugee umbrella determined by the Geneva Convention of 1951 6 .Moreover, in the content of Guiding Principles there are no clear references to the term‘environmentally-induced displacement’ mentioned by UNHCR two years earlier 7 . The textcontains no references to the terms “environment” or “climate”, however, the word “disaster”is used three times (Introduction, Principle 6 (d), Principle 7 (3)). The document refers only ina general way to all important factors of internal displacement (conflict, natural or man-madedisasters and development).The Pact on Security, Stability and Development in the Great Lakes Region (so-called GreatLakes Pact) adopted in December 2006 by 11 states was the first attempt to conceptualize theinternal displacement in this particularly affected area. The document mentions fourcategories of factors shaping the regional scale of internal displacement: political conflicts,humanitarian, social and environmental catastrophes. According to the article 20 (b) StateParties undertake actions to “promote relevant policies to guarantee access to basic socialservices by the populations affected by conflicts and effects of natural disasters” 8 .The Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa6A. Williams, “Turning the Tide: Recognizing Climate Change Refugees in International Law”, Law & Policy,vol. 30, no. 4, 2008, pp. 511.7 Environmentally-Induced Population Displacements and Environmental Impacts Resulting from MassMigrations8A.M. Abebe, “Legal and Institutional Dimensions of Protecting and Assisting Internally Displaced Persons inAfrica”, Journal of Refugee Studies, vol. 22, no. 2, 2009, p. 155-176.