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国連難民高等弁務官、気候変動により危険な状態にさらされる避難民に言及

国連難民高等弁務官、気候変動により危険な状態にさらされる避難民に言及

21 6月 2012

ブラジル・リオデジャネイロ、2012年6月21日発、

アフリカ東部の難民への調査によると、気候変動が人々を脆弱にし、危険な紛争地域に追いこみ、最終的に国境の越え、避難を余儀なくしている。

持続可能な開発に関するリオ+20サミットに出席したアントニオ・グテーレス国連難民高等弁務官は、『気候変動、脆弱性、人の移動』についての報告書を紹介し、「UNHCRが難民の声として寄せられていた言葉がこの報告書によってしっかりと証明された。アフリカ東部からの多くの難民は、状況が厳しくなる中、極力自分の家に留まろうとするが、作物が枯れ、家畜が死んだため、他の地域に避難せざるをえない。しかしその選択はしばしば彼らをより危険な状態に追い詰めている。」

エチオピアとウガンダに逃れている難民や国内避難民約150人から、2011年に実施された聞き取り調査に基づき、まとめられている。この調査では気候変動がどのように、人の強制移動に影響を与えるか、主にエリトリア、ソマリア、スーダン東部から逃れきた農業や牧畜に従事していた人たちである。

アフリカでは、過去10年間の不安定な降雨に加えて、長く厳しい干ばつが起こっている。これら気候変動は、暴力的紛争勃発の直接の原因と定められていない。しかし厳しい干ばつによる食糧難や作物の収穫高減少により、紛争、迫害、抑圧が悪化しているとの報告もある。グテーレス高等弁務官は、「私は気候変動が世界の避難民の増加に影響していると確信する。世界が結束してこの危機に応じなければならない。」と述べた。

劣悪な天候により発生した避難民のほとんどは国内にとどまっているが、国外に脱出した人に関しては、1951年の「難民条約」では保護されない。2012年10月にUNHCRとノルウェー難民委員会の協力のもと、ノルウェー政府とスイス政府が正式に発足する「ナンセン・イニシアティブ」は、環境の変化と極端な気候変動のために発生した国外避難民のための、法的保護の強化を目指す。

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Climate change drives people into harm’s way, says UN Refugee Chief

Rio de Janeiro, 21 June 2012

A new report based on scores of personal testimonies from refugees in Eastern Africa finds that climate change can make people more vulnerable and can also play a part in driving them into areas of conflict and ultimately across borders and into exile.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres introduced the report, “Climate Change, Vulnerability and Human Mobility,” while attending the Rio+20 summit on sustainable development. It was published by UNHCR and the United Nations University with support of the London School of Economics and Bonn University.

“This report confirms what we have been hearing for years from refugees. They did everything they could to stay at home, but when their last crops failed, their livestock died, they had no option but to move; movement which often led them into greater harm’s way,” said Guterres.

The study, based on discussions with around 150 refugees and internally displaced people in Ethiopia and Uganda in 2011, asked questions aimed at understanding to what extent climate change had contributed to their flight from their homes, and eventually their countries. Most of those interviewed were farmers and pastoralists from Eritrea, Somalia and eastern Sudan.

“The report highlights how important it is to understand the real experiences of vulnerable people with environmental stressors today" said Konrad Osterwalder, Rector of the United Nations University, which helped to design the research methods and implemented the fieldwork together with Bonn University, London School of Economics and UNHCR.

Most refugees reported that leaving their homes was a last resort and their first displacement was temporary and to an area close to home. The majority fled their countries after the areas they moved to were affected by insecurity or a lethal combination of violence and drought. Cross-border movement, as a direct response to climate change, was exceptional.

According to the report, many refugees described disrupted rainfall patterns in the past decade, with longer and more severe droughts than in previous years. None cited these negative shifts in weather as a direct catalyst for violent conflict, although some spoke about the scarcity of food and crops after severe drought as exacerbating pre-existing conflicts, persecution and repression.

“I am convinced that climate change will increasingly be a driver in worsening displacement crises in the world. It is very important for the world to come together to respond to this challenge,” said Guterres.

While most people displaced solely as a result of extreme weather conditions stay within their national borders, those that cross international borders are not necessarily covered by the 1951 UN Refugee Convention.

The Nansen Initiative, due to be formally launched in October 2012 by Norway and  Switzerland, with the support of UNHCR and  the Norwegian Refugee Council, aims to address this legal and protection  gap for people displaced across borders owing to environmental change and extreme weather events.