UN: Climate could be grounds for asylum

CLIMATE change could create new legitimate grounds for claiming asylum in the future, the UN has warned.

Its human rights committee rejected the claim of Ioane Teitiota, who had fled the Pacific nation of Kiribati and claimed asylum in New Zealand, on the grounds that the danger he faced was not imminent.

But the court said that “without robust national and international efforts”, the effects of climate change may trigger the non-refoulement principle, meaning asylum seekers could not be sent back to affected countries.

Kiribati, made of 33 atolls and one island, faces a growing threat from rising sea levels and could be uninhabitable by 2050. But the UN ruled that there was time for interventions that may save the islands, or for the government to relocate the islanders.

Mr Teitiota brought his case in February 2016, six months after he was deported from New Zealand to Kiribati. He arrived in New Zealand in 2007 with his wife and the couple had stayed after their visas expired in 2010.

He said he had faced land disputes and difficulties accessing safe drinking water on his home island of South Tarawa, which had become overcrowded as the surrounding islands had become uninhabitable due to rising sea levels. He said the Pacific nation faced becoming entirely uninhabitable in 10-15 years.

Amnesty International said the ruling suggested that future claims could be successful if there was evidence that the effects of climate change in an applicant’s home state “may expose individuals to a violation of their rights”.

The court’s rulings are non-binding but influential.