Legal protection for environmentally displaced persons

Type of project: Project work with the non-economic and non-profit sector in the local and regional environment - Student Innovative Projects for Social Benefit 2016–2018 (ŠIPK)

Project title: Legal protection of environmentally displaced persons

Project team:

• students: Matija Bevk, Simon Drčar, Kaja Elsner, Petra Hren, Eneja Kovač, Daška Levstik, Alen Savić, Kaja Smolnikar, Juruša Zorčič, Luka Žigante
• educational mentor: Prof. Dr. Vasilka Sancin
• First expert collaborator: Senka Šifkovič Vrbica (Legal Information Center for Non-Governmental Organizations)
• Second expert collaborator: Manca Šetinc Vernik (Humanitas Association for Human Rights and Humanitarian Activities)

Financers:

The project was designed to address the current issues of climate change and environmental migration facing Slovenia. Climate change is threatening the lives of more and more people around the world. Ecological degradation is so severe in some parts of the world that it prevents individuals and families from continuing their lives in their home environment, forcing them to flee as refugees to other countries, including Slovenia. However, they face a legal vacuum, as Slovenian legislation does not provide these people with the legal protection that refugees are entitled to. As part of the project, the participants examined in detail the situation of environmentally displaced persons (EDPs) and their options for obtaining legal protection. Based on the documents and literature reviewed in this field, they prepared a definition of ORO. They also reviewed the occurrence of environmental migration in history and today, and, as a result, created a map of climate change hotspots relevant to outlining environmental migration flows to Slovenia. They also prepared an additional map on the history of environmental migration, as the recent mass arrival in Europe has shown that many refugees coming to Slovenia are fleeing war conditions resulting from previous, long-term environmental degradation. Based on the above findings, they organized a consultation on this topic for the general public at the Faculty of Law. Based on the results of the consultation, they also prepared an article for the magazine Pravna praksa. They also prepared a written document supporting the proposal for a new European regulation on international protection in the section on granting legal protection to ORO. They contacted MEP Tanja Fajon, who, as rapporteur for the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, which prepared the proposal for the regulation. With the potential adoption of this proposal and the European regulation, the regulation would also be directly binding on Slovenia, thereby providing a legal basis for the protection of ORO.

Legal protection for environmentally displaced persons