In Asia Pacific, the most disaster-prone region of the world, displacement is projected to further increase due to intensifying climate and weather events. Indicative estimates from the World Bank suggest that up to 90 million people may be displaced during this century by sea-level rise alone.
Laws and policies are the foundation of all aspects of disaster risk management and while most countries have some form of disaster legislation, research has found the growing number of people forced to leave their homes in the context of disaster and climate change is completely absent or not adequately addressed in disaster law and policy.
IFRC Disaster Law’s Manager for Asia Pacific, Gabrielle Emery says given the huge issue of displacement in the region, disaster and climate law and policy must address displacement.
“We are seeing the movement of millions of people from a single typhoon in places like the Philippines, or whole communities moving from a Pacific island due to rising sea levels. This is one of the most pressing humanitarian issues of our region, so working with governments, national societies and communities to address this in law and policy is a priority.”
Global to local action
“We just aren’t changing as quickly as the climate. […] Failure is already costing us lives, livelihoods and years of lost development,” said Fiji’s Prime Minister H.E. Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, Chair of the Platform on Disaster Displacement (PDD) on the anniversary of the Paris Accords, Nansen Initiative and Sendai Framework which provide for the protection of disaster displaced people.
“Pacific Islanders can tell you first-hand: Time means everything when you have water lapping at your door.”
Other global frameworks that protect people displaced by disaster include the 2016 Agenda for Humanity, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and the Global Compact on Refugees.
In Asia Pacific, these global frameworks are complemented by regional and national initiatives, including the Bangladesh National Strategy on the Management of Disaster and Climate-Induced Internal Displacement, the regional Framework for Resilient Development in the Pacific, the Vanuatu National Policy on Climate Change and Disaster-Induced Displacement, the Fiji Planned Relocation Guidelines and the Fiji Displacement Guidelines in the Context of Climate Change and Disasters.
These frameworks emphasise the need for an integrated and cross-sectoral approach to addressing disaster displacement - spanning disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, humanitarian assistance, human rights and refugee protection, and development initiatives.
Turning words from the Sendai Framework into action, the PDD – a key partner of IFRC - has tools to help build knowledge and skills needed to address disaster displacement in their communities and countries.
“Integrating human mobility into disaster risk reduction strategies not only aligns them with the Sendai Framework’s emphasis on people-centred and rights-based approaches to disaster risk reduction, it also helps support and ensure that the human rights of displaced people and migrants are upheld according to government obligations,” says Sarah Koeltzow, Policy Officer at the PDD.
“These tools offer practical guidance to help governments and regional organizations to do just that, and integrate disaster displacement into their disaster risk reduction strategies and policies”.
On the ground are Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies who work with communities before, during and after disasters, and at the same time, through their auxiliary status with the government, have a seat at many government level disaster risk management decision-making tables.
This unique role means they can act as a bridge between government and communities to ensure the specific needs and voices of displaced communities, or those at risk of displacement, are considered and included in displacement programming and decision making.
Next steps
As climate change increases the intensity and frequency of disasters across Asia Pacific, more people will be forced from their homes.
Law and policy must move beyond aspirational statements to mandate practical measures to assist and protect people displaced by disasters and climate change, and the host communities that support them. Disaster laws must also provide for longer-term support to mitigate risk, recover and support the realisation of durable solutions.
IFRC Disaster Law continues to guide governments and National Societies and plans to work with partners to do more detailed research and advocacy in this area. A fact sheet, Climate and Disaster Displacement: The Importance of Disaster Law and Policy, provides an overview and recommendations of this area of disaster risk management.