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.

New Zealand, 6/25/2013

This case remains the most detailed judicial consideration of a claim for recognition of refugee status and eligibility for human rights-based complementary protection in the context of disasters and climate change, focusing on the predicament of Mr Ioane Teitiota from the small Pacific island state of Kiribati.

New Zealand, 10/29/2009

This case concerns a woman from Myanmar (Burma) who was recognized as a refugee as a consequence of her (imputed) political opinion, in particular as a consequence of her active and open engagement with the delivery of humanitarian relief on behalf of an opposition political party. People in a similar position had received lengthy prison sentences.

New Zealand, 8/17/2000

This case concerns a claim for recognition of refugee status by seven members of the same family from Tuvalu. The family point to adverse environmental conditions, express a fear that climate change will exacerbate adversity, and attempt to draw a connection between the environmentally-related harm, their status as members of a particular social group (poor Tuvaluans), and culpable failures by the status authorities to provide effective protection. The claim was dismissed on multiple dimensions of the refugee definition, primarily the failure to establish a nexus between the harm feared and any of the Convention reasons.

New Zealand, 3/15/2010

This case raises an environmental dimension in the context of assessing the feasibility of internal relocation from Baghdad (where the applicant had lived until her flight) to Dahuk as part of the Applicant’s asylum claim. Internal relocation was assessed as not being available to the Applicant, in significant part owing to the serious difficulties associated with accessing water due to drought.

Australia, 10/5/2012

A Fijian national sought and was denied recognition of refugee status in Australia owing to a fear of being persecuted on the basis of his political opinion. One aspect of his expression of political opinion was criticism of government cyclone response.

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.

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.