Bogumil Terminski Environmentally-Induced Displacement ... - Cedem

According to Norman Myers, environmental refugees are “people who can nolonger gain a secure livelihood in their homelands because of drought, soilerosion, desertification, deforestation, and other environmental problems,together with associated problems of population pressures and profoundpoverty”. 59 As Myers ascertained, an environmental refugee is in weakerposition due to its semi-permanent or permanent status, because it has only asmall chance for a happy return home.Interesting (and not entirely unfounded) perceptions and definitions have beenworked out in numerous analyses, reports, and working papers issued bycertain NGOs. 60 Members of the Strasbourg Diplomacy (a European students’association) suggest distinguishing two main categories of environmentallyrelated migrants: “environmentally motivated migrants” and “environmentalrefugees”. According to their proposal:• Environmentally motivated migrants are persons or groups of people whomove from their usual place of residence due to foreseeable, long-term forcedcircumstances caused by environmental factors, either temporarily orpermanently, within their own country;• Environmental refugees are persons or groups of people who aresuddenly evicted from their country, because their lives, livelihoods, andwelfare have been placed at serious risk as a result of adverse environmentalprocesses and events either temporarily or permanently.The last definition, however, seems extremely difficult to defend. It isimpossible to reduce our contemporary understanding of refugees only topeople who cross state borders (or, for example, benefit from UNHCRassistance). Over the past fifty years, we have observed significant evolutionof the “refugee concept”, perhaps best evidenced by the development of the59N. Myers, “Environmental Refugees: A Growing Phenomenon of the 21 st century”, Philosophical Transactionsof The Royal Society B, vol. 357, no. 1420, p. 609-613.60Strasbourg Diplomacy Working Paper, Human Rights Council (Topic: Climate change and migration),http://strasdiplomacy.web.officelive.com/Documents/Resolution%202.3.pdf.