A bill in the Philippines could guarantee protection for climate refugees. The issue of climate change is becoming increasingly urgent with 32 million people already displaced by climate-related disasters and some countries facing the threat of submersion.
On Wednesday, May 29, 2024, Philippine legislators proposed a bill concerning climate refugees. Migrants forced to leave their countries because of the consequences of climate change could be guaranteed protection in the Philippines.
The bill is designed to protect the interests of climate refugees, particularly those living in Small Island Developing States (SIDS). This proactive measure would establish the country as a refuge at a time when the 39 SIDS are under increasing threats from climate disruption. These islands are all located at sea level, rendering the phenomenon of rising water levels all the more dangerous.
The proposed amendment to the Philippine Immigration Act is a direct response to the growing crisis facing the inhabitants of SIDS, explained Ziaur-Rahman Alonto-Adiong, one of the legislators behind the bill. These territories are particularly exposed to violent weather phenomena caused by climate disruption, such as Hurricane Irma in 2017, the most intense hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean, which destroyed 90% of the Caribbean island of Barbuda.
Barbuda was also the venue for the Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4) on Monday, May 27, where UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres declared: “Your unique geography puts you at the mercy of climate chaos, rising sea levels and land degradation. Climate change is an existential crisis for the entire human family, but SIDS are on the front lines.”
As the bill has not yet been made available to the public, its composition remains unknown. The government’s press agency states that “HB 10490 aims to establish protections for environmental migrants or climate change refugees, and underscores the commitment to humanitarian duty and the Philippine tradition of providing refuge in times of global crisis.”
16% of climate-induced internally displaced persons are Filipinos
In 2015, the Philippines gave refuge to 6,000 migrants from Burma and Bangladesh, who were persecuted for their religion or fleeing poverty, after they were rejected by the rest of Southeast Asia.
The country grasps SIDS issues very well, as it is made up of no fewer than 7,000 islands, some of which are so small they cannot be named. The country also faces climate challenges. In 2021, Typhoon Rai forced 4 million people from their homes.
The phenomenon is so widespread that internally displaced persons have been protected by law since 2013, entitling them to reimbursement for destroyed homes, among other things.
In 2022, the Philippines was the 2nd country in the world with the highest number of internally displaced people due to disasters, excluding armed conflicts, with over 5 million people in a single year, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center report. Among the 32.6 million internally displaced by disaster, this represents over 16% of the world’s population of internal migrants.
Stateless migrants by 2050
As the Groundswell report points out, 216 million people will be forced to migrate within their own country as a result of climate change by 2050. For SIDS, which are likely to be submerged by rising sea levels by that date, the migration of their stateless inhabitants will be another challenge.
With this in mind, Australia has signed an agreement with Tuvalu, the small island developing state that will be the first nation to disappear because of climate change. The island’s 11,000 inhabitants can obtain climate asylum: rights that will enable them to settle, work, receive medical care, and study in the country. Jane McAdam, an Australian university professor, points out that the agreement “is the first (…) that specifically addresses climate mobility.”
