Abstract
This chapter explores the climate migration phenomenon and its legal framework in Latin America, studying some of its possible drivers and how these have a notable incidence in the global south. The chapter is centered on the Latin American region, providing a panorama of the geographical characteristics that make it particularly vulnerable to natural disasters and climate-related events, being these drivers of climate migration. The chapter also gives a view of the social, economic, and political conditions that make Latin America more susceptible to suffering human rights violations, which has an impact on the capacity of the countries to protect climate migrants and adds to the vulnerability of the region. The chapter also links this phenomenon to the existing legal framework, starting from the international instruments to later approach the domestic legislation and developments of the Latin American countries, revealing the lack of a harmonized regional instrument to protect climate migrants.
TopIntroduction
During recent years, climate variability has increased in occurrence and magnitude. There is a link between climate events such as flooding, hurricanes, and landslides with climate change and the increase in global temperature (WMO, 2021). As well, human interaction accelerates natural warming and cooling cycles. According to the World Meteorological Organization, in 2022, “the global annual mean near-surface temperature exceeded the pre-industrial average by approximately 1.15 °C, increasing from 1.02 °C to 1.28 °C” (WMO, 2022). Scholarly approaches have studied it as anthropogenic climate change, which has consequences for the living and organization of human communities. One of the responses of human societies to changes in living conditions is to move, making climate change a driver for migration (Pan, 2020).
Environmental issues can affect living conditions and motivate human response by relocation. For the purposes of this chapter, these issues will be named as drivers. There are multiple drivers that have been identified by literature, but this chapter will approach two of them: natural disasters and resource scarcity (Wyman, 2013). The first one encompasses a series of events, such as hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, and wildfires, with devastating consequences that can forcefully displace entire communities (Pan, 2020). The second one also directly impacts living conditions, and the barriers or lack of access to natural resources can gradually force the relocalization of individuals and communities (Reuveny, 2007).
Migration is defined as the movement of communities and individuals to settle in another location (European Parliament, 2023). The causes for this displacement can be multiple, but they can be divided into voluntary and involuntary reasons. The first one refers to those relocations due to the individual's willingness, for example, to work or study abroad. The second refers to forced movements due to social issues like economic distress, political unrest, and violence (UNESCO, 2021). These two categories sometimes overlap because of the multiple circumstances and contexts leading individuals and communities to migrate, making it a multidimensional phenomenon that calls for a holistic approach.
Migration has been recognized as a global issue by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), which in 2021 reported that globally, there are around 281 million international migrants, which means individuals that are not living in their country of origin (UNDESA, 2021). Migration as a process impacts various aspects of human life, and the vulnerability of the displaced individuals makes them prone to multiple forms of human rights violations. Migrants are considered a vulnerable group due to several factors that can trigger or arise out of the migration process, like poverty, discrimination, xenophobia, violence, and gender inequality. Other situations arising from the displacement are connected to social consequences, including family rupture or separation (IOM, 2020). These situations occur when migrating individuals or families face significant challenges maintaining their social connections and support networks. This disruption affects the stability and continuity of family and social life and often leads to emotional distress, as Kirmayer portrays in her 2011 study, where the mental health of a group of migrants was studied through the process of obtaining refugee status, the results of this study show differences in family structure, acculturation, and intergenerational problems, among other situations (Kirmayer et al., 2011).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Global South: Developing countries that have political, social, and environmental issues and struggle more to overcome than developed countries, mainly because of the economic factor. Countries in Latin America are included under this concept.
Harmonized Legal Framework: A legal framework that provides a uniform and single set of rules that different countries can apply. It seeks to avoid conflicts of law and guarantee the same treatment and result regardless of where it is applied, promoting international cooperation.
Migration Drivers: Factors or forces that motivate individuals or groups of people to move from one location to another.
Climate Migration: movement of individuals or communities, either voluntarily or involuntarily, from their place of residence within the same country or internationally due to the impacts of climate change.
Natural Disasters: Catastrophic and unpredictable events caused by natural forces that can affect the living conditions of individuals and communities.
Vulnerability: The position to be susceptible to different phenomena, endangering the well-being and survival of a country or individual.
Resource Scarcity: The lack of natural resources or services to provide the essential basic needs (water, food, shelter, etc) of a specific community or individual.