The project “Natural Disaster and Migration” aims to explore the impact of climate change and the absence of a clear and universally agreed-upon definition for climate refugees. Furthermore, given the ambiguity in international laws and domestic laws concerning the protection of migrants displaced by natural disasters induced by climate change, this research will explore the legal gap. The study will also investigate whether Canada has consistent immigration policies for those claiming refugee status based on extreme weather events.
The focus of the research will be limited to countries which have suffered natural disasters, extreme weather events, hunger crises or civil wars resulting from climate change. We will study only those refugees who have been accepted as refugees to Canada from such countries. Some believe that the drought that occurred between 2006 and 2010 in Syria was in part a catalyst to the ongoing war that began in 2011. The key here will be to identify refugees who arrived in Canada because extreme weather events in their home countries influenced their decision to move here. Recent disasters such as flooding in Pakistan, the hunger crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa, the 2021 earthquake in Haiti and others have not elicited Canada government’s reaction as it did for Haitians in 2010. The research will explore whether Canada has consistent immigration policies for those claiming refugee status based on extreme weather events.