...DAVOS, Switzerland - The world needs to prepare for millions of people being driven from their homes by the impact of climate change, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said on Tuesday.
...Speaking to Reuters at the World Economic Forum, Filippo Grandi said a UN ruling this week meant those fleeing as a result of climate change deserved international protection and that it had broad implications for governments.
..."The ruling says if you have an immediate threat to your life due to climate change, due to the climate emergency and if you cross the border and go to another country, you should not be sent back, because you would be at risk of your life, just like in a war or in a situation of persecution," Grandi said.
...Whereas for most of its 70 years UNHCR, the UN's refugee agency, has worked to assist those fleeing poorer countries as a result of conflict, climate change is more indiscriminate.
...The convention relating to the status of refugees, signed in 1951, made no provision for climate change as a reason for people to flee their country and seek asylum elsewhere.
Submitted 1526 days ago
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