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.

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.

United Kingdom, 10/18/2006

In the decision Lady Hale makes a statement obiter dictum concerning the limited scope of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. She states: ‘People fleeing national and international wars, famine or other natural disasters are referred to as refugees, and offered humanitarian aid by the international community, but they do not generally fall within the definition in the 1951 Convention.'

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.

United Kingdom, 7/6/2000

Lord Hope quotes Dawson J when the latter refers by the way to epidemic, natural disaster and famine in the context of the definition of the refugee in the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.

United Kingdom, 11/19/2008

The tribunal recognizes a Zimbabwean teacher as a refugee and also finds removal would violate Article 3 ECHR in the context of political violence including, but not limited to, discriminatory deprivation of humanitarian relief in the context of drought- and flood-related food insecurity.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.