Schlagwort: human rights

Climate change is a global emergency that touches every human on this planet. But its effects hit some people harder than others.  People in low- and middle-income countries, coastal areas, river valleys, low-lying areas and island states, are on the frontlines of the crisis. Among them, those who live in poverty, those who belong to racialized communities, women, older people, children, people living with illness or disability, Indigenous Peoples and other marginalized groups, are most affected. As sea levels rise and temperatures soar, people may leave their homes to seek a better future for themselves and their families.

People displaced by climate change may face similar struggles to those who flee due to conflict or persecution. Staying could put their human rights, their livelihoods and their lives in jeopardy.

Climate change is a threat multiplier that deepens inequalities and discrimination. It threatens the enjoyment of most of our rights and the future of humanity.  

What is climate displacement?

Climate displacement is the movement of people related to the impacts of climate change. It can be temporary or permanent, across borders or within the person’s origin country. Climate displacement may be linked to sudden or slow-onset disasters.

These climate impacts can happen in different ways:

• Sudden disasters: Some people are displaced temporarily by events like cyclones, wildfires, floods or extreme storms. Often, they move within their own country and return when it’s safe. However, as these extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change, repeated and prolonged movements are having long-term impacts on communities and their human rights.
• Slow-onset disasters: Other climate-related disasters happen more gradually but are no less devastating. Effects like rising sea levels, saltwater contaminating fresh water sources, drought and desertification make entire areas unliveable over time. People leave their home permanently, often moving to cities or crossing borders to find a life with dignity in another country.

How many people are estimated to have been displaced by the climate emergency?

It’s hard to give an exact number of people displaced exclusively by climate change. This is because climate change often interacts with other factors like economic struggles, conflict, political instability and discrimination. When someone decides to leave their home, it’s rarely due to just one cause. 

To get a sense of the potential figure, we can look to data from the International Displacement Monitoring Centre, which suggest that 9.8 million people are displaced by disaster. This figure includes disasters that aren’t attributed to climate change and doesn’t include displacement that’s indirectly caused by climate change. However, it does provide us with a sense of the scale of the problem.

What we do know is that people are already moving in response to the climate crisis and other compounding factors, and that they often find inadequate legal protections.  

Are there legal protections for people displaced by the climate disaster?

Government inaction on climate change infringes on an expansive list of human rights including:

• The right to life and to live with dignity;
• The right to be free from inhumane and degrading treatment;
• the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment;
• the right to non-discrimination;
• economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to health, the right to food, the right to water, the right to housing and the right to an adequate standard of living.

Human rights law also specifies that displaced people have a right to not be returned to a place where their human rights would be at real risk. This is called the principle of non-refoulement and it also applies to people who move in the context of climate change.

Does that make them “climate refugees”?

At Amnesty International, we don’t use the term “climate refugees” or “environmental refugees”. This is because these terms don’t exist in international law. International law defines only the term “refugee”.

Under international law, a refugee is a person who has a “well-founded fear” of persecution in their country for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion – and therefore cannot be returned there. International law does not distinguish between different types of refugees, like “religious” or “political” or “climate-related”. Making such distinctions can become harmful and highly politicized.

People who move in the context of climate change may obtain refugee status under the 1951 Refugee Convention due to risks of persecution. For example, if resources like food, housing and clean water become scarce and an already marginalized group is specifically prevented from accessing them, members of that group could obtain refugee status if they decide to leave their country.

Whether or not they qualify for refugee status, everyone should be protected from being returned to a place where they would be at real risk of persecution or other serious human rights violations. And every person seeking international protection should have their case looked at individually and fairly.

What are the main causes of climate change?

The planet is warming more rapidly due to a series of human-made factors. These include:

• Fossil fuel extraction, production and use, including coal, oil and so called ‘natural gas’ for energy,
• Harmful agricultural practices,
• Deforestation,
• Changes in how land is used.

These activities release greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, causing the planet to warm. This leads to profound and unprecedented changes in our atmosphere, oceans and natural environment.

Climate change is made by humans, and it can be stopped by humans.

Scientists agree that a fossil fuel phase out is imperative. Advocates and brave activists all over the world are speaking out on the need for climate action. However, fossil fuel companies and many governments have spent decades misleading, deflecting and delaying. While some governments are taking action on climate change, others are doubling down on the fossil fuel economy, despite the high cost to human health, wellbeing and life.

Rising sea levels

There are two main causes of sea level rise. First, vast ice sheets and glaciers in places like Greenland and Antarctica melt, adding huge amounts of water to the oceans. Secondly, as the temperature of the ocean warms, it expands in volume. This can also lead to ocean acidification and salinization of soil, impacting agricultural productivity, food security, biodiversity and access to clean drinking water.

This has a devastating impact on coastal communities and low-lying island countries, as their land is slowly swallowed by the sea. Rising sea levels contribute to increased flooding and high tides that are already destroying homes and crops and other important infrastructure needed for people to survive. Salt water from the ocean can contaminate the soil and fresh water sources, making the land less fertile and water undrinkable.

Low-lying island nations, such as Tuvalu and Kiribati in the Pacific that are barely a few metres above sea level, are more at risk from the effects of rising sea levels. Scientists predict that low-lying island nations may be submerged by ocean waters in a not-too-distant future. In 2021, Tuvalu’s prime minister made a poignant call on the international community to address climate change, standing knee-deep in water.

In Honduras, where rising seas and severe storm surges devastate coastal communities, Amnesty International has documented how fishing and farming communities face repeated flooding that destroys homes and contaminates freshwater sources, causing families to abandon their ancestral lands.

Extreme weather events

Climate change leads to extreme weather events, including more frequent and more intense floods, heatwaves, wildfires, cyclones and storms which can lead to the temporary or permanent displacement of whole communities.

Droughts

Climate change also leads to slow-onset events, such as droughts.

For example, people living in southern Madagascar have experienced a prolonged drought for the past five years, resulting in a catastrophic famine. In 2021, we documented the struggle of people fighting to survive the effects of climate change.

“There are times when I can’t seek anything anymore, and I have the feeling that I am going to faint because I get weaker and weaker. In the evening, I can’t sleep anymore because I think about what we are going to eat tomorrow, and I hardly sleep.”

Seventeen-year-old Mosa

Extreme heat days, heatwaves and floods

As temperatures rise globally, the hottest days become even hotter. Heatwaves last longer and occur more often. Sometimes, ‘heat domes’ are created by atmospheric pressure which trap high temperatures in one area for extended periods.

Extreme heat is a direct threat to human health and the right to life, causing heatstroke and exhaustion, leading to health complications and shortening life expectancy. It worsens existing health conditions, putting older people, young children and people with disabilities at even higher risk. People living in poverty and those with informal, often outdoor work, are also disproportionately impacted by increased extreme heat days. Equatorial countries are more at risk of increased extreme heat days due to already having consistently high temperatures year-round, but heatwaves are increasingly having an effect in other countries too.

In some places, like Pakistan, abnormal weather patterns are destroying lives. In 2022 and 2024, extreme, and prolonged heatwaves were followed by intense, heavy rainfall during the monsoon season. In August 2022, Pakistan received more than 700% of its average monthly rainfall. The Indus River burst its banks, flooding communities. Thirty-three million people were affected, and eight million internally displaced. Those who were displaced faced unsanitary living conditions, increased exposure to disease and haphazard provisions of food and water.

Indirect causes, such as debt, economic collapse and conflict

The effects of climate change destroy land that once served as food sources and economic hubs, making it more desolate and harsh. Resources like food and water become scarce, and people may lose their livelihoods due to changing environmental factors. In lower-income countries, people may lose jobs or be unable to work and have no social security. Debt of lower-income countries may also make it harder for people to respond to disasters and adapt to the climate crisis.

In Pakistan, devastating heatwaves make it dangerous for casual workers to work in the heat, which impacts their daily wages. This coupled with inadequate social protection means that many of these workers cannot afford to stay in their communities.

Competition over resources and worsening social, economic and environmental conditions can then contribute to the risk of conflict. Conflict and political instability also make it more difficult for communities to prepare and brace for the impacts of climate change.

How is climate change a threat multiplier?

While people often talk about the direct impacts of climate change, its dangers extend far beyond environmental damage. Climate change acts as a threat multiplier, intensifying existing inequalities and human rights struggles. People may be at increased risk both because of where they live and its vulnerability to the climate crisis, and/or because of their individual circumstances.  

Some people and communities do not have the resources or infrastructure to respond to the effects of climate change. Groups that face multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination face even greater risks because of climate change, including:

• Women and girls are less likely to own land and are more likely to experience poverty and unemployment. Women and girls also lack political representation and face discrimination and gender-based violence. These factors mean they are more likely to be negatively affected by the climate crisis.
• People living in poverty, particularly people experiencing homelessness, are especially at risk to climate impacts.
• People with disabilities and health conditions also face increased dangers. Institutional discrimination and social exclusion add to the challenges for these persons, as well as the fact that the climate crisis may increase the risk of further health complications.
• Groups experiencing structural discrimination, including racialized people and minorities,who often live in neighbourhoods and communities that lack resilient infrastructure to protect them from climate change.
• People living in low- and middle-income countries, which lack the resources to adequately respond to the effects of climate change.
• Indigenous Peoples, who often live in ecosystems that are particularly sensitive to alterations in climate, whose cultures and identities are closely interconnected with their lands, and who in many cases are excluded from climate decision-making.

Do states have any legal responsibility to address climate displacement?

The human rights impacts of climate change are undeniable. And they are a result of human-made problems that need to be addressed.

States have a responsibility to cooperate to prevent further displacement and ensure that people can remain in their homes. In July 2025, the International Court of Justice issued a landmark opinion explaining that the full enjoyment of human rights cannot be ensured without protection of the climate system and other parts of the environment. This means states must mitigate climate change, including by rapidly phasing out fossil fuels and reducing emissions.

States must also assist people to adapt to a changing environment, including through financial and technical support for adaptation and disaster risk reduction. Richer countries, who are also often the most responsible for higher emissions, bear more responsibility.

People displaced in the context of climate change must have access to international protection and other forms of protection. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has clarified that to ensure protection for people displaced across borders, governments should establish appropriate “migration categories” such as humanitarian visas, temporary residence permits, and/or protection under refugee status or similar status, which can provide protection against refoulement. This includes protecting people from deportation to a place where their human rights would be at real risk due to climate change impacts.

Displaced communities should also be compensated for the loss and damages they suffered because of a human-made climate crisis.

What are states doing already to respond to climate displacement?

In short, not enough.

Only some countries offer dedicated protections against returns to other countries due to risks of climate change-related human rights harm.

Visas dedicated to allowing people to relocate from areas particularly impacted by climate change are extremely rare. In 2024, Australia offered a visa programme specifically for up to 280 people a year from Tuvalu in the context of climate change.

Existing migration policies force people to navigate discriminatory and restrictive procedures and pathways. People most affected include racialized and poor communities, women, and other marginalized groups. Older people, people with disabilities and people with medical conditions are often left behind, since they are unable to meet visa requirements. These policies separate families and entrench the societal exclusion of those who already face higher risks. 

States are falling short on their obligations under international law.

What can we do to hold states to those responsibilities?

We need to hold powerful decision makers to their legal responsibility to protect people displaced in the context of climate change. True justice must include offering visas to those most impacted by the climate crisis.

We are calling on all states to urgently establish clear legal frameworks at national, regional and international level for the protection of persons displaced across international borders in the context of climate change. This should complement existing climate justice initiatives, including support for adaptation and mitigation, just transition and loss and damage, so that people are able to continue living on their homelands with their rights respected.

At Amnesty International, we’re committed to continuing our research, campaigning and advocacy work to pressure states to act on their responsibilities. With the help of people like you, we are working to create a global movement of people who can help us make enough noise so it’s clear that refusal to offer safe and legal pathways for people displaced in the context of climate change will not go unnoticed.

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Tanzanian authorities must immediately disclose the fate and whereabouts of a former Tanzanian ambassador to Cuba, Humphrey Polepole, who may have been forcibly disappeared. They must also ensure his safety and bring those responsible for his abduction and possible assault to justice through fair and transparent legal processes, Amnesty International said today.

Amnesty International is deeply alarmed that Humphrey Polepole might have been forcibly disappeared and possibly assaulted. The Tanzanian government must put every effort into locating him and bringing him back to safety. They must hold his abductors accountable.

Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa

Humphrey Polepole’s family said they were alerted about a break-in on the morning of 6 October 2025 at the Dar es Salaam residence of the former diplomat and outspoken government critic. Upon arrival, they found the door broken, electrical wires cut, and a significant amount of blood at the scene. Videos and images shared by the family appear to corroborate these claims, showing clear signs of a violent struggle.

“Amnesty International is deeply alarmed that Humphrey Polepole might have been forcibly disappeared and possibly assaulted. The Tanzanian government must put every effort into locating him and bringing him back to safety. They must hold his abductors accountable,” said Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s regional director for East and Southern Africa.

The incident comes less than three months after Polepole reported that his sister had been abducted from her home in Bahari Beach, Dar es Salaam, on 17 July 2025. She was beaten and later dumped back at her home the next day, in the night.

This case adds to a growing list of enforced disappearances and attacks on government critics in Tanzania, raising serious concerns about authoritarian practices in the country and increasing political repression ahead of Tanzania’s general elections, scheduled for 29 October 2025.

Far too many people have disappeared in Tanzania, over the recent years without any accountability. Authorities must bring this impunity to an end.

Tigere Chagutah

Polepole, once a senior figure in the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, resigned from his diplomatic post earlier in 2025 after publicly criticizing the government for its disregard of justice, the rule of law, and constitutional principles.

“Far too many people have disappeared in Tanzania, over the recent years without any accountability. Authorities must bring this impunity to an end,” Tigere Chagutah said.

Polepole’s family reported the incident to Mbezi Police Station on 6 October, and his lawyer filed a habeas corpus application in court on 7 October 2025. Family members told Amnesty International that during a police investigation into Polepole’s case, officers took several items from his home, including his printer and safe.

Police spokesperson David Misime said Polepole had been summoned to appear before the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) over allegations made on social media but had failed to comply. Authorities say they are working to verify the authenticity of the abduction claims.

Background

Tanzanian security forces have been repeatedly implicated in a pattern of enforced disappearances in the country. In June 2025, UN human rights experts called on the Tanzanian government to “immediately stop the enforced disappearance of political opponents, human rights defenders and journalists, as a tool of repression in the electoral context.” Victims are often taken by unidentified individuals with the support or acquiescence of state officials, with authorities subsequently refusing to acknowledge their detention or disclose their fate or whereabouts—hallmarks of enforced disappearance under international law.

Among those still missing are Anthony Gabriel, Daniel Chonchorio, Deusdedith Soka, Dioniz Kipanya, Fakih Ali Salim, Frank Mbise, Jacob Mlay, Mdude Nyagali, Shadrack Chaula, Sinda Mseti, and Siza Mwita Keheta. Their continued disappearance underscores the urgent need for accountability and transparency from Tanzanian authorities.

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Responding to reports of an aerial attack by the Myanmar military that is said to have killed upwards of 20 civilians, including children, when multiple bombs were dropped from motorized paragliders, Amnesty International’s Myanmar Researcher Joe Freeman said:

“The sickening reports emerging from the ground in central Myanmar following a nighttime attack late on Monday should serve as a gruesome wake-up call that civilians in Myanmar need urgent protection.

“The international community may have forgotten about the conflict in Myanmar, but the Myanmar military is taking advantage of reduced scrutiny to carry out war crimes with impunity.

“It continues to kill civilians on a daily basis, using methods such as motorized paragliders, a disturbing trend that Amnesty International has documented in the same area that this attack occurred.

“This would be the latest in a long line of attacks that stretch back almost five years to the start of the 2021 military coup. As the military attempts to solidify power with a stage-managed election later this year, it is intensifying an already brutal campaign against pockets of resistance.

“As it prepares to convene later this month, the Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) must increase pressure on the junta and revise an approach that has failed the Myanmar people for almost five years, since the coup deposed the country’s democratically elected government. The UN Security Council should also refer the situation in Myanmar as a whole to the International Criminal Court.”

Background

According to reports and information received by Amnesty International, people from communities in Sagaing Region’s Chaung-U Township gathered in a village on the evening of 6 October as part of a peaceful candlelight vigil to call for the release of arbitrarily detained prisoners, to oppose military conscription and to condemn a junta-organized election set for December. The vigil took place on the Full Moon night of Myanmar’s Thadingyut Festival, in an area where armed resistance groups are active.

According to people present at the scene, the first attack at around 8pm initially killed at least 17 people including at least one child under five years old. Dozens of people are said to be in critical condition in local hospitals. A follow-up attack reportedly occurred at around 11pm but did not cause as much damage. Both were said to be carried out with motorized paragliders, which make a distinctive chainsaw-like sound as they approach, with media reporting that more than 20 people were killed in total.

The UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said in September that these paramotor attacks typically involve 120mm mortar rounds dropped from the sky, an indiscriminate form of attack. Amnesty International interviewed witnesses to paramotor attacks in the same township in March in the aftermath of a powerful earthquake that struck central Myanmar.

It is not known if the military’s use of paramotors is related to the lack of resources such as jet fuel which the military needs for fighter jets. In 2022, Amnesty International released a report, Deadly Cargo, about the supply chain of jet fuel to the Myanmar military, and has tracked its changing tactics to import the resource since then.

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Reacting to the decision of the Trial Chamber X of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to convict Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman also known as “Ali Kushayb” for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed between August 2003 and at least April 2004 during brutal attacks in Darfur, Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, said:

“This long overdue verdict goes some way in providing justice for the victims of Ali Kushayb and should serve as a significant milestone in the pursuit of justice for crimes committed in Darfur more than two-decades ago. The conviction should serve as a warning to those committing abuses in the context of the ongoing Sudan conflict that they will one day be held individually accountable.

“To ensure that the ICC can pursue comprehensive justice for all victims, the United Nations Security Council should extend the Court’s mandate from Darfur to the entirety of Sudan.

This long overdue verdict goes some way in providing justice for the victims of Ali Kushayb and should serve as a significant milestone in the pursuit of justice for crimes committed in Darfur more than two-decades ago.

Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa

“This verdict should spur ICC member states to urgently enforce all outstanding arrest warrants in the Darfur situation, including against former Sudan President Omar al-Bashir and to enhance their political and financial support for the Court to enable the investigation of ongoing violations in Darfur and elsewhere in Sudan.

“Despite US sanctions on the ICC, the Court has shown a clear resolve to continue its pursuit of justice for all victims, including in Darfur. In the face of ongoing US and other states’ attacks on the Court, ICC-member states must demonstrate their commitment and support for victims in Darfur and all situations under investigations through concrete action to defend the court.”

Background

The trial of Ali Muhammed Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, charged by the ICC as a principal leader of the Janjaweed militia, began at the ICC in April 2022.

He was convicted of 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur, Sudan, between August 2003 and March 2004.

In 2005, the UN Security Council referred the situation in Darfur to the International Criminal Court (ICC). In 2009 and 2010, the ICC issued arrest warrants for President al-Bashir for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. The ICC has also issued arrest warrants for three other government officials, and three members of armed opposition groups.

Today’s verdict comes amid conflict in Sudan between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in which thousands have been killed and over 10 million people have been displaced.

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*Update: On 7 October 2025 Saber Chouchen was granted a presidential pardon and was unexpectedly released.

Responding to the death sentence handed down by the Nabeul Court of First Instance.to 56-year-old Saber Chouchen for his Facebook posts, including criticism of the president and calls for a public protest, Heba Morayef, Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International said:

“This verdict, which sentences a man to death for peaceful dissent on Facebook, represents a significant escalation and an outrageous assault on human rights. The Tunisian authorities must immediately quash Saber Chouchen’s conviction and release him without delay.

“The use of capital punishment in this case is a stark and horrifying illustration of a government weaponizing the justice system to crush freedom of expression and the slightest sign of dissent. The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment and must never be used under any circumstances, let alone to silence critics for merely expressing their opinion online.

The use of capital punishment in this case is a stark and horrifying illustration of a government weaponizing the justice system to crush freedom of expression and the slightest sign of dissent.

Heba Morayef, MENA Regional Director

“The unfounded charges of attempting to overthrow the state and inciting chaos, which were based on  social media posts in which Saber Chouchen criticized the Tunisian president, calling for political change and urging a protest, expose the government’s escalating reliance on repressive laws like Article 72 of the Penal Code and Decree-Law 54 to silence critics. Criminal law has become the primary tool in an unrelenting campaign to criminalize all forms of public and peaceful dissent. This death sentence and conviction must be overturned, and all convictions and sentences based solely on the peaceful exercise of human rights must be immediately reviewed and quashed”

“Tunisia must follow the example of the majority of the world’s countries and swiftly abolish the death penalty and commute all death sentences. There is no evidence that it has a unique deterrent effect on crime and, as seen today, can be used as a tool in the state weaponry of repression. It must be immediately removed from the law books”.  

As of today, 113 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes and close to three quarters of all countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty unconditionally, in all cases and under any circumstances. 

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