United Kingdom, 10/13/2010

Three HIV positive women supporters of the opposition in Zimbabwe unsuccessfully resist removal on the basis of discriminatory denial of food aid and medical treatment.

Australia, 10/26/2000

This case relates to disasters/climate change as the High Court of Australia, in obiter dictum, referenced natural disasters and catastrophes when discussing the definition of “refugee.” The court pointed out that individuals who move across international borders due to such circumstances do not qualify for refugee status under the Refugee Convention.

Australia, 1/15/2010

Politically active woman from Myanmar assisted in relief efforts in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis. Also forced to pay bribes to authorities because she and her husband were business owners. Established well-founded fear of being persecuted as member of particular social group and potentiallly more at risk because of activity relating to Cyclone Nargis.

Australia, 2/24/1997

The case is significant because it includes the statement obiter dictum that has been cited by judges in multiple other jurisdictions. The statement by Dawson J reads: “By including in its operative provisions the requirement that a refugee fear persecution, the Convention limits its humanitarian scope and does not afford universal protection to asylum seekers. No matter how devastating may be epidemic, natural disaster or famine, a person fleeing them is not a refugee within the terms of the Convention." This is an important case for the development of international refugee law, so the way it treats disasters is important.

Australia, 3/1/1999

The obiter dictum in this case is significant for its recognition of the relevance of disasters in determining whether an internal relocation alternative is available. The statement, obiter dictum, reads: “It cannot be reasonable to expect a refugee to avoid persecution by moving into an area of grave danger, whether that danger arises from a natural disaster (for example, a volcanic eruption), a civil war or some other cause. A well-founded fear of persecution for a Convention reason having been shown, a refugee does not also have to show a Convention reason behind every difficulty or danger which makes some suggestion of relocation unreasonable”.

Australia, 1/25/2013

Devastating flooding in Pakistan in 2010 caused significant internal displacement . Shia Muslims were forced to move out of traditional areas into parts of Pakistan where they were at risk of violence from the Sunni majority as well as militant groups.

Australia, 8/23/2000

Considering if positive action from the state is necessary to establish persecution for a Convention reason the court considered the example of a national authority engaging in discriminatory denial of disaster relief. The Court observed that "it is inappropriate to insist that some positive conduct be present before the Convention definition can be brought into play."

Australia, 2/15/2013

The applicant, a member of the minority Shia population in Pakistan, was recognized as a refugee owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted by the Taliban. Flooding is recognized in country of origin information as contributing to displacement in the part of the country where the applicant had his origin, and the existence of flood-displaced Sunnis is a relevant factor in determining the availability of an internal relocation alternative.

Australia, 9/22/2022

This is an important case relating to the rights to remain and the duty of states to take steps to prevent displacement. It focuses on states’ obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in the context of both climate change adaptation and climate change mitigation, particularly in relation to Indigenous Peoples but also potentially much more broadly. The case articulates state obligations under Articles 6 (right to life with dignity), 17 (right to private and family life and the home), and 27 (rights of minorities to culture) to take steps to prevent foreseeable harm, including specifically the harm of (permanent) displacement. The specific rights of the child under Article 24(1) ICCPR are also invoked (including in relation to permanent displacement) by the applicants but are not addressed in detail by the Committee.

New Zealand, 10/24/2019

This case is the most authoritative international human rights legal articulation of how the non-refoulement principle applies in relation to applications for international protection advanced under Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The Human Rights Committee determined that Article 6 does establish a non-refoulement obligation in situations where a person can demonstrate ‘substantial grounds for believing that there is a real risk of irreparable harm such as that contemplated by articles 6 and 7 of the Covenant’ having regard to the totality of adverse conditions appertaining in the country of origin, including those arising in the context of climate change. Key issues relate to the foreseeability of the feared harm as well as the severity of harm feared.

United Kingdom, 6/28/2011

An important decision establishing that the European Court of Human Rights can protect people from refoulement in situations where the conduct of the parties to a conflict can be established as the "predominate cause" of a humanitarian crisis. In that case, the legal test has regard to an applicant’s ability to cater for his most basic needs, such as food, hygiene and shelter, his vulnerability to ill-treatment and the prospect of his situation improving within a reasonable time-frame.

Germany, 12/17/2020

Conditions in Afghanistan arising from COVID-19-related lockdown measures are sufficiently adverse as to give rise to an Article 3 ECHR-based non-refoulement obligation in the case of a young Afghan man with no social support network facing return to Kabul.

Norway, 11/23/2011

In deportation cases, the state is required to consider a proposed internal relocation alternative that is reasonable, and in so doing it must have regard, amongst other things, to country information revealing serious difficulties associated with the impact of persistent drought on a person’s ability to support himself, in this case through livestock keeping. The case focuses primarily on a procedural law question concerning which provision of domestic law should be followed, but it is important to the extent that it reflects a recognition of the relevance of environmental factors when determining the reasonableness of an internal relocation alternative.

United Kingdom, 10/13/2010

Three HIV positive women supporters of the opposition in Zimbabwe unsuccessfully resist removal on the basis of discriminatory denial of food aid and medical treatment.