Over recent years, as climate change and disasters deepen social inequalities and economic hardship across the Pacific, many have felt their best option is to migrate. For many Tuvaluans and I-Kiribati, Aotearoa New Zealand is the most viable destination given the countries’ close historic and cultural ties.

However, the country’s migration pathways do not take into account the effects of climate change and disasters. This includes the Pacific Access Category Resident Visa (PAC), which provides permanent residency to a limited number of nationals of Kiribati, Tuvalu, Tonga and Fiji.

The PAC scheme is only available to people between 18 and 45 years of age, who can secure a job offer and prove they have an “acceptable standard of health”. This excludes anyone with impairments that are associated with a disability, as well as anyone living with certain medical conditions perceived to represent a cost for Aotearoa New Zealand.

“For many people in Tuvalu and Kiribati, staying or leaving is not a matter of choice but survival,” Agnès Callamard said. “Pacific Island communities have shown extraordinary resilience in pursuing adaptation and mitigation strategies to enable people to remain on their lands, but the Aotearoa New Zealand government needs to do more to support them, without discrimination.” 

It is simply unacceptable for a high emitting country like Aotearoa New Zealand to claim it cannot take people apparently due to the cost they could generate, especially knowing that people with disabilities face increased risks during climate-induced extreme weather events.

Agnès Callamard

Amnesty International met with several individuals with disabilities and their families, who were separated as a result of the visa requirements.

Alieta, a teacher and mother from Tuvalu with a visual impairment, had to remove her name from her family’s PAC application to enable her six-year-old daughter and husband to go to Aotearoa New Zealand in 2016. She has been separated from them ever since.

Talking about the impact of climate change, Alieta explained: “When the high tide came, the whole road and the house flooded… that’s why I want to move away from the sea.” She said that she agreed to her daughter going to New Zealand because she wants a better life for her, even though she finds it very hard to be apart.   

“In the beginning I was not angry at New Zealand. I kept on asking for a visa… But I am sad for my daughter. I didn’t want to be separated from my daughter. It is hard on children.”

Agnès Callamard said: “It is simply unacceptable for a high emitting country like Aotearoa New Zealand to claim it cannot take people apparently due to the cost they could generate, especially knowing that people with disabilities face increased risks during climate-induced extreme weather events.”

Tuvalu and Kiribati – on average two metres above sea level – are particularly exposed to the effects of sea level rise. Coastal erosion, floods and droughts, as well as water and soil contamination and salinisation, dramatically limit the availability of drinking water and land to grow food and build homes. This is having a particularly severe impact on people’s health, particularly older people and those living with disabilities.

Aleki, who lives with her husband, her four children and her sister’s family in Funafuti, Tuvalu’s capital, told Amnesty International that obtaining clean drinking water has become a challenge: “We take buckets and go to the government building for filtered water every day for drinking.”

There are heat waves, droughts and king tides and they have destroyed all these plants.

A 56-year-old I-Kiribati woman

Soil contamination from salty water, which renders it unusable for growing most crops, is such an issue in Kiribati that the island is now nearly entirely dependent on imported food, which is often limited in variety and prohibitively expensive. 

A 56-year-old I-Kiribati woman told Amnesty International: “In Kiribati you hardly find good food. You can find only rice and canned stuff. You don’t have vegetables or stuff like that. We don’t grow our food at home. There are heat waves, droughts and king tides and they have destroyed all these plants.” 

The situation is also precarious for people who manage to reach Aotearoa New Zealand and fall into irregular status after their visas expire. With no access to dedicated protection mechanisms, those in this situation live with the constant fear of deportation, and are unable to access public services, including healthcare and education.

Under international human rights law, everyone has the right to be protected against forcible removal to a place where they would be at real risk of serious human rights violations, including due to climate change and disasters.

“Amnesty International is calling on Aotearoa New Zealand to urgently reform its immigration policies to align with a rights-based approach to climate displacement. In doing so, the government must develop and implement policies consistent with Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Indigenous Peoples’ rights,” Agnès Callamard said.

The Pacific is sounding the alarm. If the world fails to act here, it will fail everywhere.

Agnès Callamard

This would include offering dedicated humanitarian visas that prioritize those who are unable to meet the existing immigration requirements, to ensure the rights, including family unit, of those migrating. Dedicated protection mechanisms against deportation are also needed, including suspension of deportations for nationals of Tuvalu and Kiribati.

“Aotearoa New Zealand – and the international community at large – must act now to protect, respect and promote the rights and dignity of Pacific People in the face of the climate crisis, both at home and in their country of destination. Anything less is a betrayal of our shared responsibility to uphold human rights and ensure climate justice,” Agnès Callamard said.

“Taking action on climate change and displacement is no longer a political choice but a legal obligation. The Pacific is sounding the alarm. If the world fails to act here, it will fail everywhere.”