The Human Rights Committee opens the door to asylum applications due to climate change

Countries cannot deport people facing climate change-induced conditions that violate the right to life, the UN Human Rights Committee said in a landmark decision that will set a precedent.

The Committee made the claim in response to the complaint of Ioane Teitiota, whose asylum application was denied in 2015 by New Zealand, and was deported to her home country of Kiribati, where climate change has created serious conditions that violate her rights.

Teitiota argued that the country violated his right to life by expelling him, as rising sea levels and other weather effects have made Kiribati uninhabitable for all its residents: violent disputes have occurred over habitable land that is increasingly scarce; environmental degradation hampers family farming; and the freshwater supply has been contaminated with salt water.

The Committee found that in teitiota’s specific case, the New Zealand courts did not violate his right to life at the time of the events, because the thorough and careful assessment of his testimony and other available information led to the determination that, despite the seriousness of the situation, sufficient protective measures had been taken in Kiribati.

However, said Committee expert Yuval Shany, “this ruling sets new standards that could facilitate the success of future climate change-related asylum claims.”

The Committee also clarified that persons seeking asylum status are not required to prove that they would face imminent harm if they were to return to their countries. Experts said climate change-induced damage can occur both through sudden events (such as intense storms and floods) and through longer processes (such as sea level rise, salinization and land degradation). Both types of situations can lead people to cross borders to seek protection.

The ruling also highlighted the role that the international community must play in helping countries adversely affected by climate change.

The Committee stated that, without sound national and international efforts, the effects of climate change in countries from which people migrate can trigger “non-refoulement” obligations in host States. “The risk of an entire country ending up submerged under water is so extreme that living conditions in that nation can become incompatible with the right to life and dignity even before it happens,” the experts said.

The ruling marks the first decision by a U.N. human rights treaty body on a complaint by an individual seeking asylum protection from the effects of climate change.

Source: UN News