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| UN Official Wants to Create 'Environmental Refugee' Category |
| 2005-10-12 |
| Natural disasters and environmental degradation may displace 50 million people by 2010 creating a new category of refugees, United Nations experts said Tuesday. "There are well-founded fears that the number of people fleeing untenable environmental conditions may grow exponentially as the world experiences the effects of climate change and other phenomena," said Janos Bogarti, director of the United Nations University's Institute for Environment and Human Security in Bonn, Germany. "This new category of 'refugee' needs to find a place in international agreements," Bogardi said. "We need to better anticipate support requirements, similar to those of people fleeing other unviable situations." So-called environmental refugees have yet to be included in international agreements that defend the rights of political and war refugees and grant them access to money, food, shelter and health care. Hans van Ginkel, rector of the United Nations University, urged world leaders to prepare for future disasters and to define and incorporate the new breed of environmental refugees into the international framework. Van Ginkel said political and war refugees are recognized by international treaties and that environmental refugees present a more complex problem. He added that such refugees need to be considered separately from economic migrants, who leave their native countries to seek a better life elsewhere. The Bonn experts said environmental disasters include the rise of sea levels, the expansion of deserts and catastrophic weather-induced flooding, which this year alone has caused massive destruction and displaced millions of people worldwide. Environmental migration is already an acute problem in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Expanding deserts have also displaced millions of people in the Middle East, China and North Africa, the Bonn experts said. Governments usually provide temporary assistance to victims of natural disasters. DPA |
| Posted by:lotp |
| #7 Yep, time to form a UN Committee to study the problem. First order of business, locate a exotic locale (far away from refugees and environmental problems) with good restaurants and five star hotels to host the committee. |
| Posted by: DMFD 2005-10-12 23:48 |
| #6 This might not be such a bad thing if Bolton can get them to massage the details a bit. E.g., the thought of one-way trips for libs from the polluted wasteland of post-industrial America to nice clean farms in Zimbabwe strikes me as an excellent concept. |
| Posted by: AzCat 2005-10-12 22:30 |
| #5 do ZimBobWeans qualify? Farmin B Hard may not want to stick around... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-10-12 19:36 |
| #4 Would snowbird qualify? |
| Posted by: 3dc 2005-10-12 18:42 |
| #3 "The train whistle is too loud here--it must be environmental "sound pollution." Can the UN support me as a refugee to a nicer neighborhood? No? I'm Kofi's younger cousin, does that help?" |
| Posted by: James 2005-10-12 14:53 |
| #2 "He added that such refugees need to be considered separately from economic migrants, who leave their native countries to seek a better life elsewhere." I fail to see the distinction. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2005-10-12 14:26 |
| #1 Yet another pot 'o money to play with, methinks. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-10-12 14:01 |