Countries must no longer deport people whose lives would be in danger in their home countries due to climate change-related problems, the United Nations Human Rights Committee said on Tuesday, citing a "historic case" involving an asylum claim from a Kiribati citizen in New Zealand
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st January, 2020) Countries must no longer deport people whose lives would be in danger in their home countries due to climate change-related problems, the United Nations Human Rights Committee said on Tuesday, citing a "historic case" involving an asylum claim from a Kiribati citizen in New Zealand.
Ioane Teitiota applied for asylum in New Zealand in 2015 but was later deported to Kiribati together with his family. Teitiota then filed a complaint with the UN Human Rights Committee, saying that New Zealand had violated his right to life, mentioning rising sea levels in Kiribati.
"In its first ruling on a complaint by an individual seeking asylum from the effects of climate change, the UN Human Rights Committee has stated that countries may not deport individuals who face climate change-induced conditions that violate the right to life," the committee said in a statement released by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
The committee did not rule against New Zealand in this specific case, saying that protection measures were in place in Kiribati and that Teitiota's life was not in danger, but committee expert Yuval Shany set out new standards that could help with climate-related asylum claims in the future.
The committee also said that asylum seekers were not required to prove that they face immediate harm upon arrival in their native countries and urged the international community to play a bigger role in assisting countries most affected by climate change.
