Reframing Persecutions: A Socio-Legal Analysis of Asylum Claims Based on Climate Change-Induced Conditions

Abstract

Despite international recognition that forced migration is not only a result of conflict or violence, but also a consequence of natural disasters, international protective frameworks such as the 1951 Refugee Convention do not recognise the category of ‘climate refugees.’ Subsequently, there has been an increased debate going on whether to classify the people who are displaced by the impacts of climate change as ‘refugees.’ Legally, the suggestion has been rejected by international institutions stating that ‘climate’ is not one of the five enumerated grounds mentioned in the 1951 Refugee Convention. Subsequently, intentional ‘persecution’ cannot be established in these cases as the effects of climate change are not arbitrary and discriminative in nature. This paper aims to analyse the socio-legal narratives of those persons who seek asylum based on events they attribute to climate change. The intention is to enquire how discussions around ‘persecution’ are framed within the asylum tribunals and probe if the definition can be expanded to include climate-affected persons. This needs to be analysed because forced displacement due to climate-induced conditions is an immediate humanitarian crisis affecting the world. Yet lack of legal acknowledgment has left the affected population in a state of uncertainty.