In
The International Legal Status and Protection of Environmentally-Displaced Persons: A European Perspective, Hélène Ragheboom addresses the topical issue of displacement caused by environmental factors and analyses in particular whether affected persons, who are unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin due to the severe degradation of their living environment, could or, in the negative, should receive some form of international protection within the European Union. The author provides a detailed analysis of relevant instruments of refugee law and international human rights law, and explores possible future approaches to addressing the phenomenon of environmental displacement, ranging from constructive interpretations of existing norms to the allegedly preferable creation of a multidisciplinary
sui generis framework.
Hélène Ragheboom, Ph.D. (University of Luxembourg, 2012), has worked as researcher within the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law and as desk officer for legal affairs and human rights within Luxembourg's Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.
Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Introduction
Part 1: Protecting People Fleeing Indiscriminate Threats: Law and Practice within the European Union
Introduction to Part 1 1
Preliminary Remark: Member States’ Obligations under International Human Rights Law are Unaltered by
eu
Membership 2
European Union Law Relevant to Asylum 3
Relevant Provisions of International Human Rights Law 4
Member States’ Non-harmonised Protection Responses 5
Conclusions of Part 1
Part 2: Testing Existing Refugee Law, Human Rights Law and Practices through the Prism of Environmental Disasters
Introduction to Part 2 6
Environmentally-Displaced Persons as Beneficiaries of International Protection under Refugee Law? 7
Under International Human Rights Law 8
State Practice in Response to Disasters and Other Humanitarian Crises 9
Conclusions of Part 2
Part 3: Exploring Means of Protecting “environmental refugees” in International Law
Introduction to Part 3 10
Solutions Based on Existing Asylum Law and Relevant Norms International Human Rights Law 11
Can (and Should) States be Held Responsible for Environmental Displacement? 12
A
Sui Generis
Framework to Address Environmental Displacement and Migration 13
Conclusion of Part 3 General Conclusion
Annex Bibliography Index
Primarily intended for scholars and postgraduate students, this book will also be relevant for national and international policymakers in the process of addressing environmentally-induced displacement, its root causes and consequences.