|
Harry
Wijnberg, Chair Living
Space for Environmental Refugees (LiSER) Antoniestraat
19, 2011 CN The
+31(0)23-5332892
info@liser.org www.liser.org IBAN:
NL91 PSTB 0009 321158 on
name of Living Space Chamber
of Commerce: no.34174170 |
Stuart
M. Leiderman, Director Environmental
Refugees & Environmental Restoration Environmental
Response/4th World Project 603.776.0055 leidermn@christa.unh.edu |
“THE
ENVIRONMENTAL
REFUGEES AND ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION”
(Text current as of
signers current as of
I.
RECOGNIZING ENVIRONMENTAL REFUGEES
WE
RECOGNIZE that there are millions of environmental refugees in the world, and
know that their numbers are growing, both in absolute terms and as the
percentage of all uprooted and displaced people.
WE
NOTE that large numbers of writers, scholars, scientists and others have, for
twenty years or more, used the term “environmental refugees” in news articles,
speeches, publications, reports, government documents, radio and television
programs, and that the number of website citations are steadily growing. Despite this, we note that few people have
given their full attention to the plight of environmental refugees, their
causes and remedies. We believe this needs to be changed.
WE
ACKNOWLEDGE numerous other reports about people forced to move or flee from
natural disasters, man-made environmental catastrophes or combinations of both,
that do not use the term “environmental refugees” or recognize their plight as
such. We believe this also needs to be
changed.
II. DEFINING REFUGEES
HISTORICALLY,
refugees were people who had already found refuge, asylum, tolerance and
shelter among non-threatening people and institutions. In a sense, these refugees had claimed their
human right to safety amidst a variety of dangers, threats and expulsions. During the twentieth century, however, both
the definition of refugee and the relationship changed for the worse: Refugees
became regarded as people fleeing troubles of their own, not troubles of the
world. And, in the eyes of foreign
nations, refugees had no right to refuge unless and until they fit stringent,
preordained requirements for origin, cause and escape. Thus, the very definition of “refugee” became
a threat to the survival of millions of people.
WE
NOTE THAT the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967
Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees considerably narrowed the usage of
the term “refugee” after centuries of broader use and connotation. By ignoring a) displaced people who were
unable to escape their countries and b) others not suffering persecution for
reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group
or political opinion, the Convention and Protocol recognized only a minority of
those who needed refuge, relief and repatriation, not the majority. We believe this is unjust and insufficient
for international law, and should be changed.
WE
WELCOME THE STATEMENT of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [in
“The State of the World’s Refugees 1993: The Challenge of Protection”] that,
“There are clear links between environmental degradation and refugee
flows. The deterioration of the natural
resource base, coupled with demographic pressure and chronic poverty, can lead
to or exacerbate political, ethnic, social and economic tensions which in turn
result in conflicts that force people to flee….
The international community has every interest in responding to the need
to preserve and rehabilitate the environment before degradation leads to
violence and persecution - and a mass of displaced people who easily meet the
conventional definition of refugees.”
WE
ALSO WELCOME THE STATEMENT of the Millennium Declaration adopted by the Special
Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations in 2000: “…[I]nternational conventions do not adequately address the
specific needs of vulnerable groups such as internally displaced persons, or
women and children in complex emergencies.”
WE
ACKNOWLEDGE THE STATEMENT of the Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable
Development, 2002, that “…[T]he global environment
continues to suffer. Loss of
biodiversity continues, fish stock continue to be depleted, desertification
claims more and more fertile land, the adverse effects of climate change are
already evident, natural disasters are more frequent and more devastating and
developing countries are becoming more vulnerable, and air, water and marine
pollution continue to rob millions of a decent life.”
WE
THEREFORE SUPPORT the implementation of AGENDA-21 adopted by the Earth summit
convened in
FOLLOWING
THE 1951 CONVENTION AND 1967 PROTOCOL, a few regional initiatives, of
necessity, began to recover the traditional sense and use of the term
“refugee”. Among them were:
1969
- Organization of African Unity [OAU] Convention Governing Specific Aspects of
Refugee Problems in
1984
- Organization of American States [OAS] Declaration on Refugees,
The
OAU Convention expanded the definition of refugee to include “every person who,
owing to external aggression, occupation, foreign domination or events
seriously disturbing public order in either part or the whole of his country of
origin or nationality, is compelled to leave his place of habitual residence in
order to seek refuge in another place outside his country of origin or
nationality. [article 1, section 2] The OAS Declaration recommended enlarging the
definition of refugee to include “persons who have fled their country because
their lives, safety or freedom have been threatened by generalized violence,
foreign aggression, internal conflicts, massive violation of human rights or
other circumstances which have seriously disturbed public order.” [conclusion 3]
We
support initiatives such as these that expand the definition of refugee and the
range of causes.
WE
ALSO NOTE regional initiatives such as:
1994
- Addis Ababa Document on Refugees and Forced Population Displacements in
Africa that recognized degradation of the environment as a root cause of
refugee flows and forced population displacement [part two, section I, item 9]
and
1994
- Arab States Refugee Status Convention that recognized “natural disasters or
devastating incidents” as a cause of refugees [article 1, paragraph 2]
We
support initiatives such as these that acknowledge and respond to environmental
causes of refugees.
III. DEFINING ENVIRONMENTAL REFUGEES
FOR
MORE THAN FIFTY YEARS, scholars, humanitarians and environmentalists have
expressed a growing need to recognize and define a new category of refugees --
those displaced by or fleeing from environmental causes. Milestones published in the English language,
with excerpts, include:
1948
- William Vogt. Road to Survival
[William Stone]. “Scores of millions of people who are using the land in
disregard of its capabilities are Displaced Persons [DPs]
in a much more serious sense than the few hundred thousands in European refugee
camps. [p107]
“
“The
cardinal consideration in Latin American land management is that there exists
in this area today some twenty to forty
million ecological DPs.” [Vogt’s italics]
[p191]
1985 - Essam el-Hinnawi. Environmental Refugees [United
Nations Environment Programme]. [E]nvironmental refugees are defined as “those people
who have been forced to leave their traditional habitat, temporarily or
permanently, because of a marked environmental disruption (natural and/or
triggered by people) that jeopardized their existence and/or seriously affected
the quality of their life.”[p4]
1995 - Norman Myers and Jennifer Kent. Environmental Exodus: An Emergent Crisis in the Global Arena [Climate Institute]. “In several parts of the world there is an
emergent phenomenon of -environmental exodus-.
It is made up of people who are increasingly coming to be known as
environmental refugees. They are people
who can no longer gain a secure livelihood in their homelands because of
drought, soil erosion, desertification, deforestation and other environmental
problems. All have abandoned their
homelands on a semi-permanent if not permanent basis, having little hope of a
foreseeable return.” [p14]
1995
- Stuart Leiderman. “Reviewing Global Awareness of Environmental
Refugees” [Symposium on International Change,
IN
RECENT YEARS, numerous environmental organizations, human rights organizations,
refugee organizations and development agencies have also helped lay the
foundation for recognizing environmental refugees, through a variety of
conference sessions, research and education projects, reports and
investigations combining human rights and environmental justice. Among them have been: the
American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Carnegie Council on
Ethics and International Affairs, the Geological Society of America, the
Climate Institute, the Natural Heritage Institute, the Sierra Club, the Society
of Wetlands Scientists, the Tolerance Foundation and the Worldwatch
Institute. In addition, numerous
colleges and universities have conducted lectures, courses and academic studies
on environmental refugees. We support
all these initiatives and encourage the future efforts of organizations,
agencies, institutions and even countries.
IV. NEW INITIATIVES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL
REFUGEES
LANGUAGES
AND LINKAGES - We believe the term “environmental refugees” should be advanced,
adopted and accepted for use in all world languages. We believe it should be linked to relevant
occupations and professions such as disaster relief and prevention, environmental
protection, sustainable development, migration studies, human rights studies,
geography studies, public health and ecological restoration.
MOVEMENT-BUILDING
- We believe it is time for a global movement to recognize and aid
environmental refugees. Therefore, there
must be a common vocabulary. At present,
very few people call themselves “environmental refugees” even though millions
are displaced from their homelands and natural surroundings or are fleeing
environmental causes. By contrast, many
observers, analysts and writers have used all sorts of terms to describe these
same people. We will try to close that
gap.
GLOBAL
SYNERGY - We will share our knowledge, libraries, databases, networks and other
resources and capabilities to accelerate recognition of environmental refugees
wherever they occur.
DATABASES
- We will adopt common categories and formats to accumulate and organize data
on environmental refugee episodes, chains of events, warning signs and other
indicators of danger and population movement.
We will create and maintain be a public database, with information
accessible according to geography, cause, magnitude and other basic parameters.
PUBLICATION
- We will maintain archives of information about environmental refugees and
ecological restoration and also provide assistance in the publication of
website, journals, news articles, films and video about these subjects.
FREEDOM
OF EXPRESSION - For timely recognition, protection and prevention of
environmental refugees, scientific study and analysis alone are not
sufficient. We believe that the plight
of environmental refugees also must be told in a variety of artistic ways,
including films, paintings, music, sculpture, poems, performances and human interest
stories. To reach the hearts and minds
of the general public, we will initiate and support such efforts. Further, we will develop and exchange lists
of relevant cultural activities, works, events.
ASSISTANCE
TO VICTIMS - High priority will be given to addressing the immediate needs of
environmental refugees, both individuals and groups, whether or not they call
themselves by that term. Our
interpretation of their status will be broad rather than narrow. The range of assistance will include
information, education and action on prevention, refuge, resettlement,
repatriation and restoration of damaged homelands. We support initiatives to offer ecological
restoration employment.
V.
ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION
WE
BELIEVE that environmental refugees are bio-indicators of damaged
homelands. Thus, ecological restoration
is an essential response to this refugee problem and, in fact, is inextricably
connected to it. Therefore, our efforts
concerning the plight of environmental refugees will proceed simultaneously
with efforts to ecologically restore their homelands.
WE
BELIEVE that, today, the pace and extent of environmental damage exceed that of
ecological restoration. The result is
what we call the Remainder Earth Scenario
where, each year, the whole population of Earth must occupy a smaller and
smaller portion of the planet that remains habitable. This leads to
homelessness, strife, resource scarcity and fundamental changes in human
relations, leading to new flows of all sorts of refugees. In some regions, this has already occurred;
millions of people are already “refugees in captivity.” We believe that this trend must be reversed
and we support initiatives to do so.
WHILE
THERE IS a relatively active profession concerned with the restoration of wildlands, there is no corresponding profession for the
restoration of human homelands. We
support initiatives to create such a profession.
WE
CONSIDER ecological restoration the job market of the future, capable of
employing the labor of millions of people on all
continents. To that end, we support
initiatives where refugees of all kinds may work according to terms of bonafide agreements and conventions to help restore damaged
lands anywhere in the world and, as payment, receive the legal right to claim
and live upon those lands as their own property.
VI. INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION
BECAUSE
OF ITS UNIQUE DIMENSIONS, the crisis of environmental refugees may not be
solved by simply adding a new category to existing refugee conventions,
protocols and agreements. We believe the path of least resistance may be
through a new Convention that couples the crisis of environmental refugees with
need for ecological restoration. We
support initiatives to create and approve such a Convention on Environmental
Refugees and Ecological Restoration.
ONCE
A YEAR, we will convene an open meeting to measure the progress of this
Initiative, to amend its provisions and to promote the goal of a Convention on
Environmental Refugees and Ecological Restoration.
VII. SIGNERS
WE INVITE AND WELCOME the endorsement and signature of additional
parties to this Initiative. Please contact info@liser.org or visit http://
1. Prof . Essam
El-Hinnawi, Research Professor, National Research Centre, Dokki,
2. Jeannine W. Brown, MA Refugee Studies from the
School of Cultural and Innovation Studies at the
3. Robert Stojanov,
International Development Studies, Department of Geography, Palacký
University, Olomouc, Czech Republic,
tel:
+420 585 634 515, email: iguana@prfnw.upol.cz
4.
5. Dr Md Mizanur
Rahman, Post Doctoral Fellow, Asia Research Institute
Level 4, Arts Links, AS 7,
Phone: 65-68747774, Fax: 65-67747306, Email: arirmm@nus.edu.sg or himumitu@yahoo.com
Website: www.ari.nus.edu.sg
6. Christel Cournil, juriste
post doctorante, OMP/ Toulouse/ Université des sciences sociales,
Toulouse1, 10 place Saint julien 31000 Toulouse, Phone
06-61403053 christelcournil@wanadoo.fr
7. Stephanie Long, Climate Justice Campaigner, Friends
of the Earth
(07) 38465793, 0414 136461 stephanie.long@foe.org.au
8. Joseph Chilengi, Executive Director,
Africa Internally Displaced Persons Voice (Africa IDP Voice ),
P.O
+260-1-266469, FAX: +260-1-266482,
9. Poumo Leumbe
Jean Jacques Parfait, International environmental law student PHD (Doctorant),
Université de Limoges/ Crideau/ Cnrs, France, PO BOX: 5739 (ISMA) Douala CAMEROUN
Tel: 237 765 76 64/777 70 81, E mail: poumojj@yahoo.fr
10. Michael See PE PhD, Author, Greenhouse Gas
Emissions, Global Business Aspects, Bertelsmann Springer & Business GmbH,
Heidelberg 2001, mikepsee@netscape.net
11. Francois Gemenne, FNRS Research Fellow, Centre d'Etudes de l'Ethnicité et des Migrations
(CEDEM), Université de Liège
Boulevard du Rectorat 7/45 - Bât B31, B-4000 Liège, Tel: +32 4 366 30 17, Fax:
+32 4 366 47 51, E-mail: F.Gemenne@ulg.ac.be
E-mail: Francois.Gemenne@sciences-po.org
12. Carlos García-Robles, Activist, Research, Mexico City, Mexico, carlosagrb@gmail.com, www.ambientalista.org.mx
13. Marioliva Gonzàlez Landa, National Coordinator,
Red Global de Acciòn Juvenil, GYAN Mèxico, marioliva@gmail.com, www.mexico.youthlink.org/mx
14. Lana Kelly, Climate Justice Campaigner, Friends
of the Earth Brisbane, Email: s4030601@student.uq.edu.au,
Address:
15. Shawn Shen, Department
of Geography and School of Planning, University of Otago,
PO Box 56, Dunedin,
New Zealand, Ph: +64-3-479-8496 (office), Fax: +64-3-479-9037
(dept), E-mail: shawn.shen@geography.otago.ac.nz
16. Julianne Hazlewood, Ph.D.student in Geography,Universityof Kentucky, 1457 Patterson Office
Tower, Lexington, KY 40506-0027, 53-220-3202, jahaze@gmail.com
17. Érika Pires Ramos, Federal Government Lawyer, Master in
Environmental Law at Federal University of Pernambuco,
Brasil, Association of Environmental Law
Professors of Brazil (APRODAB), Address: Rua Frei Caneca, 679/105, Consolação, São Paulo-SP, CEP
01307-001, Brasil, Phone: +55(11)8207-8452, E-ail: erikapires@yahoo.com and
erikaprs@gmail.com
signers current as of
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
Harry
Wijnberg, Chair Living
Space for Environmental Refugees (LiSER) Antoniestraat
19, 2011 CN The
+31(0)23-5332892
info@liser.org www.liser.org IBAN:
NL91 PSTB 0009 321158 on
name of Living Space Chamber
of Commerce: no.34174170 |
Stuart
M. Leiderman, Director Environmental
Refugees & Environmental Restoration Environmental
Response/4th World Project 603.776.0055 leidermn@christa.unh.edu |
BECOME A SIGNER OF “THE
ENVIRONMENTAL REFUGEES
AND ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION”
I endorse and
support the Toledo Initiative on Environmental Refugees and Ecological
Restoration. Please add my name and
contact information to the list of signers, and add me to your list of future
mailings and announcements.
Signature:
Name and Title:
Affiliation:
Address:
Phone and E-mail:
Please include
these personal comments to your Annex to the Toledo Initiative:
---------------
For
convenience, you may e-mail this form to Harry Wijnberg
<harry.wijnberg@12move.nl>, then
please follow with a signed hard-copy by
post
mail to his address above. Thank you.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Relevant
websites:
1951 Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees
http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/o_c_ref.htm
1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of
Refugees
http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/o_p_ref.htm
1969
Organization of African Unity [OAU] Convention Governing Specific Aspects of
Refugee Problems in
http://www.unhcr.bg/bglaw/en/convention_governing_specific_aspects_Africa_en.pdf
1985
Organization of American States [OAS] Declaration on Refugees,
http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/cartagena1984.html
1993
“The State of the World’s Refugees 1993: The Challenge of Protection,” United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/publ and then link to
http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/publ/+_wwFqzvhXK8x6m6xFqzvhXK8x6m6mFqhT0yfEhFqhT0NuItFqnp1xczFqn7uFPAFqwDzmwwww1Fqn7uFP
1994
Addis Ababa Document on Refugees and Forced Population Displacements in
1994 Arab States Refugee Status Convention
document not available; refer to http://www.pap-medclearinghouse.org/pdf/trans.pdf
2000 United Nations Millennium Declaration
http://www.un.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e.pdf
2002
http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/documents/WSSD_POI_PD/English/POI_PD.htm
rev