tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/unhrc-45370/articlesUNHRC – The Conversation2022-08-05T12:13:47Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1880602022-08-05T12:13:47Z2022-08-05T12:13:47ZThe UN declared a universal human right to a healthy, sustainable environment – here’s where resolutions like this can lead<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477771/original/file-20220805-25-eya5kz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4423%2C2979&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A young protester in India makes a statement about dangerous levels of air pollution.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/an-indian-youth-wearing-a-pollution-mask-participates-in-a-news-photo/874336822">Prakash Singh/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Climate change is already affecting much of the world’s population, with startlingly <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/oppressive-heat-wave-persists-across-large-swath-of-northern-hemisphere">high</a> <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/climate-change-made-india-and-pakistans-2022-early-heatwave-30-times-more-likely%EF%BF%BC/">temperatures</a> from the <a href="https://www.uow.edu.au/media/2022/record-smashing-heatwaves-are-hitting-antarctica-and-the-arctic-simultaneously.php">Arctic</a> to <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2022/01/australia-ties-southern-hemispheres-all-time-heat-record-of-123f-epic-heat-cooks-argentina/">Australia</a>. Air pollution from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2021.111872">wildfires</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-74524-9">vehicles</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2018.00131">industries</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00014">threatens human health</a>. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145788">Bees and pollinators</a> are dying in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01534-9">unprecedented numbers</a> that may force changes in crop production and food availability.</p>
<p>What do these have in common? They represent the new frontier in human rights.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3982659?ln=en">United Nations General Assembly</a> voted overwhelmingly on July 28, 2022, to declare the ability to live in “<a href="https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3982508?ln=en">a clean, healthy and sustainable environment</a>” a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40390000#metadata_info_tab_contents">universal human right</a>. It also called on countries, companies and international organizations to scale up efforts to turn that into reality.</p>
<p>The declaration is not legally binding – countries can vote to support a declaration of rights <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/Universal-Rights-Down-to-Earth/">while not actually supporting</a> those rights in practice. The <a href="https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3982508?ln=en">language</a> is also vague, leaving to interpretation just what a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is.</p>
<p>Still, it’s more than moral posturing. Resolutions like this have a history of laying the foundation for effective treaties and national laws.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Viewed from above, a person paddles a wide canoe down a river lined with plastic and other trash." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477772/original/file-20220805-1342-r9lahc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477772/original/file-20220805-1342-r9lahc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477772/original/file-20220805-1342-r9lahc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477772/original/file-20220805-1342-r9lahc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477772/original/file-20220805-1342-r9lahc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477772/original/file-20220805-1342-r9lahc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477772/original/file-20220805-1342-r9lahc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Buriganga River in Dhaka, Bangladesh, is strewn with trash and contaminated by industries and waste. It’s one of several heavily polluted rivers around the world.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/man-paddles-on-a-boat-as-plastic-bags-float-on-the-water-news-photo/1195130532">Munir Uz Zaman/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I am a <a href="https://www.latam.ufl.edu/people/center-based-faculty/joel-correia/">geographer</a> who focuses on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2022.2040351">environmental justice</a>, and much of <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=dUKNamkAAAAJ&hl=en">my research</a> investigates relationships between development-driven environmental change, natural resource use and human rights. Here are some examples of how similar resolutions have opened doors to stronger actions.</p>
<h2>How the concept of human rights expanded</h2>
<p>In 1948, in the aftermath of World War II, the newly formed United Nations adopted the <a href="https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/human-rights">Universal Declaration of Human Rights</a> in response to the atrocities of the Holocaust. The declaration wasn’t legally binding, but it established a baseline of rights intended to ensure the conditions for basic human dignity.</p>
<p>That <a href="https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/2021/03/udhr.pdf">first set of rights included</a> the right to life, religious expression, freedom from slavery and a standard of living adequate for health and well-being.</p>
<p>Since then, the scope of human rights has been expanded, including several agreements that are legally binding on the countries that ratified them. The U.N. conventions <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-against-torture-and-other-cruel-inhuman-or-degrading">against torture</a> (1984) and <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-convention-elimination-all-forms-racial">racial discrimination</a> (1965) and on the rights <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child">of children</a> (1989) and <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities.html">persons with disabilities</a> (2006) are just a few examples. Today, the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Publications/Compilation1.1en.pdf">International Bill of Human Rights</a> also includes binding agreements on <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-economic-social-and-cultural-rights">economic, cultural</a>, <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-civil-and-political-rights">civil and political rights</a>.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RBiA_7yU0nc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Eleanor Roosevelt and others read from the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Today’s triple planetary crisis</h2>
<p>The world has changed dramatically since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was written, perhaps most notably with regard to the scale of environmental crises people worldwide face.</p>
<p>Some <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/461472a">experts argue</a> that the “<a href="https://youtu.be/oykGxLQaNXs">triple planetary crisis</a>” of <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGII_FinalDraft_FullReport.pdf">human-driven climate change</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12816">widespread biodiversity loss</a> and unmitigated pollution now threaten to surpass the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-012320-080337">planetary boundaries</a> necessary to live safely on Earth.</p>
<p>These threats <a href="https://www.aaihs.org/the-environment-as-freedom-a-decolonial-reimagining/">can undermine</a> the right to life, dignity and health, as can air pollution, contaminated water and pollution from plastics and chemicals. That is why <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/07/1123142">advocates argued</a> for the U.N. to declare a right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Three girls in white school uniforms walk down a smoggy street holding kerchiefs over their noses." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477773/original/file-20220805-1334-rtzukl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477773/original/file-20220805-1334-rtzukl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477773/original/file-20220805-1334-rtzukl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477773/original/file-20220805-1334-rtzukl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477773/original/file-20220805-1334-rtzukl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477773/original/file-20220805-1334-rtzukl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477773/original/file-20220805-1334-rtzukl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Smog has gotten so bad in Delhi at times that the government has closed elementary schools.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/indian-schoolchildren-cover-their-faces-as-they-walk-to-news-photo/871511920">Sajjad Hussain/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>The U.N. has been discussing the environment as a global concern for over <a href="https://theconversation.com/50-years-of-un-environmental-diplomacy-whats-worked-and-the-trends-ahead-182207">50 years</a>, and several international treaties over that time have addressed specific environmental concerns, including binding agreements on <a href="https://www.un.org/en/observances/biological-diversity-day/convention">protecting biodiversity</a> and <a href="https://www.unep.org/ozonaction/who-we-are/about-montreal-protocol">closing the ozone hole</a>. The 2015 <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement">Paris climate agreement</a> to limit global warming is a direct and legally binding outcome of the long struggles that follow initial declarations.</p>
<p>The resolution on the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment was approved without dissent, though <a href="https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3982659?ln=en">eight countries abstained</a>: Belarus, Cambodia, China, Ethiopia, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Syria. </p>
<h2>The human right to water</h2>
<p>Voluntary human rights declarations can also <a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/cjil2&div=12&id=&page=">be instrumental</a> in changing state policy and providing people with <a href="https://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/1462/The-Elusive-Promise-of-Indigenous">new political tools</a> to demand better conditions.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/human_right_to_water.shtml#:%7E:text=On%2028%20July%202010%2C%20through,realisation%20of%20all%20human%20rights.&text=It%20is%20a%20prerequisite%20for%20the%20realization%20of%20other%20human%20rights%22.">human right to water</a> is one of the strongest examples of how U.N. resolutions have been used to shape state policy. The resolution, adopted in 2010, recognizes that access to adequate quantities of clean drinking water and sanitation are necessary to realize all other rights. Diarrheal disease, largely from unsafe drinking water, <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/diarrhoeal-disease">kills half a million children</a> under age 5 every year.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A boy crouches next to a puddle where a woman is filling plastic water bottles with a hose." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477774/original/file-20220805-7849-o3ktyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477774/original/file-20220805-7849-o3ktyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477774/original/file-20220805-7849-o3ktyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477774/original/file-20220805-7849-o3ktyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477774/original/file-20220805-7849-o3ktyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477774/original/file-20220805-7849-o3ktyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477774/original/file-20220805-7849-o3ktyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A woman in Sudan fills a water bottle for a child during the 2017 drought.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/sudanese-woman-fills-water-bottles-held-by-a-young-boy-news-photo/634410354">Ashraf Shazly/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>Human rights advocates used the resolution to help pressure the Mexican government to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2017.06.014">reform its constitution</a> and adopt a human right to water in 2012. While the concept still <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8330.2011.00929.x">faces</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1405">challenges</a>, the idea of a right to water is also credited with <a href="https://www.water-alternatives.org/index.php/alldoc/articles/volume-13/issue-1/562-a13-1-2/file">transforming water access</a> in marginalized communities in <a href="https://www.fao.org/faolex/results/details/en/c/LEX-FAOC202985/">Bangladesh</a>, <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2020/07/10th-anniversary-recognition-water-and-sanitation-human-right-general-assembly">Costa Rica, Egypt</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1067">other countries</a>. </p>
<h2>The rights of Indigenous peoples</h2>
<p>The 2007 U.N. <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/11/UNDRIP_E_web.pdf">Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples</a> is another example. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305815288_Indigenous_Peoples%27_Land_Rights_under_International_Law_From_Victims_to_Actors">It recognizes</a> the specific histories of <a href="http://www.beacon.org/An-Indigenous-Peoples-History-of-the-United-States-P1164.aspx">marginalization, violence and exploitation</a> that many Indigenous peoples around the world have endured and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2018.10.013">contemporary human rights violations</a>.</p>
<p>The resolution outlines rights for Indigenous peoples but stops short of recognizing their sovereignty, something many critique as <a href="https://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10138/318565/The_UNDRIP_and_the_Legal_Significance.pdf?sequence=1">limiting the scope of self-determination</a>. Within these limits, however, several countries have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2019.1568993">incorporated some of its recommendations</a>. In 2009, <a href="https://www.iwgia.org/en/bolivia/3389-iw2019-bolivia.html">Bolivia</a> integrated it <a href="https://social.un.org/unpfii/sowip-vol4-web.pdf">into its constitution</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People walk down a highway carrying banners demanding the state return their ancestral lands." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477732/original/file-20220804-1334-khplij.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477732/original/file-20220804-1334-khplij.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477732/original/file-20220804-1334-khplij.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477732/original/file-20220804-1334-khplij.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477732/original/file-20220804-1334-khplij.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477732/original/file-20220804-1334-khplij.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477732/original/file-20220804-1334-khplij.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Enxet and Sanapaná Indigenous peoples of Paraguay protest in 2015 to demand land restitution and protection of their human rights.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Joel E. Correia</span></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples discusses a right to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2017.1314648">free, prior and informed consent</a> about development and industrial projects that would affect Indigenous people. That has been a powerful tool for Indigenous peoples to <a href="https://environmentalpolicyandlaw.com/news-blog/indigenous-rights-and-resource-extraction-one-step-forward-two-steps-back">demand due process</a> through the legal system. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://doi.org/10.1163/15718115-02702009">Canada</a>, <a href="https://www.escr-net.org/caselaw/2014/case-indigenous-community-xakmok-kasek-v-paraguay">Paraguay</a> and <a href="https://minorityrights.org/publications/endorois-decision/">Kenya</a>, Indigenous peoples have used the resolution to help win important legal victories before human rights courts with rulings that have led to land restitution and other legal gains.</p>
<h2>Tools for change</h2>
<p>U.N. declarations of human rights are aspirational norms that seek to ensure a more just and equitable world. Even though declarations like this one are not legally binding, they can be vital tools people can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2019.11.014">use to pressure governments</a> and private companies to protect or improve human well-being.</p>
<p>Change can take time, but I believe this latest declaration of human rights will support climate and environmental justice across the world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188060/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joel E. Correia does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It’s more than moral posturing. Resolutions like this have a history of laying the foundation for effective treaties and national laws.Joel E. Correia, Assistant Professor of Latin American Studies, University of FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1523182021-01-07T19:22:56Z2021-01-07T19:22:56ZEthical minefields: the dirty business of doing deals with Myanmar’s military<p>Myanmar’s transition from five decades of military rule is a work in progress. </p>
<p>Despite the junta’s formal dissolution in 2010, the release of political prisoners including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and democratic reforms allowing National League Democracy to win government in 2015, the military (officially known as the Tatmadaw) retains huge political and economic power.</p>
<p>A quarter of parliamentary seats are reserved for military appointees. The Tatmadaw also controls several major commercial conglomerates with disproportionate economic influence, having prospered through years of cronyism and corruption.</p>
<p>The severe international sanctions imposed on Myanmar during junta rule have been lifted. However, United Nations human rights advocates have warned against doing business with the Tatmadaw due to its human rights atrocities. </p>
<p>Several reports in the past month suggest foreign companies are failing to take that direction seriously. </p>
<p>Two British banks, HSBC and Standard Chartered, have reportedly <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/20/british-banks-under-pressure-over-45m-loans-to-firm-with-links-to-myanmar-military">lent US$60 million</a> to a Vietnamese company building a mobile network in Myanmar. The Tatmadaw-controlled Myanmar Economic Corporation owns 28% of the network, known as Mytel. An Israeli technology company, Gilat Satellite Networks, has also reportedly been <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/myanmar-activists-accuse-israeli-firm-of-abetting-militarys-rohingya-atrocities/">doing business with Mytel</a>.</p>
<p>The Australian government has also been indirectly implicated. Its Future Fund has invested <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-16/future-fund-invests-millions-in-adani-project/12984734">A$3.2 million</a> (about US$2.5 million) in a subsidiary of Indian multinational Adani, which is doing business with the Myanmar Economic Corporation.</p>
<p>The subsidiary,
<a href="https://www.adaniports.com/-/media/Project/Ports/Investor/corporate-governance/Corporate-Announcement/other-intimation--1/27523052019Media-Release.pdf?la=en">Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones</a>, is funding the rail link to connect Adani’s controversial Carmichael coal mine in Queensland to a port on the Great Barrier Reef. It is also building a <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/transportation/shipping-/-transport/adani-ports-to-set-up-first-container-terminal-outside-india-in-myanmar/articleshow/69461515.cms?from=mdr">container port</a> near Yangon on land <a href="https://www.mmtimes.com/news/new-yangon-port-be-constructed-trade-volumes-rise.html">owned by the Myanmar Economic Corporation</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/myanmar-weak-leadership-is-prompting-grassroots-activists-to-make-a-difference-150105">Myanmar: weak leadership is prompting grassroots activists to make a difference</a>
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<h2>War crimes and other atrocities</h2>
<p>The United Nations’ call to avoid doing business with the Tatmadaw stems from its 2016 operations against the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, the separatist Islamist insurgency based in the western state of Rakhine. </p>
<p>Rahkine is about one-third Muslim, mostly <a href="https://minorityrights.org/minorities/muslims-and-rohingya/">ethnic Rohingya</a>, a group with its own distinctive culture and language. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/377487/original/file-20210107-17-1ydi70o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/377487/original/file-20210107-17-1ydi70o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/377487/original/file-20210107-17-1ydi70o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=849&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377487/original/file-20210107-17-1ydi70o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=849&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377487/original/file-20210107-17-1ydi70o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=849&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377487/original/file-20210107-17-1ydi70o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377487/original/file-20210107-17-1ydi70o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/377487/original/file-20210107-17-1ydi70o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The red dots show villages destroyed in Rakhine during October and November 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/12/18/burma-40-rohingya-villages-burned-october">Human Rights Watch</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The crackdown quickly deteriorated into a human rights crisis. About 350 Rohingya <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/12/18/burma-40-rohingya-villages-burned-october">villages were destroyed</a>, according to Human Rights Watch. Hundreds of thousands fled to Bangladesh. (Hundreds of thousands were already living in refugee camps due to past persecution.)</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Pages/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=23575&LangID=E">March 2017</a> the United Nations Human Rights Council appointed an <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/MyanmarFFM/Pages/Index.aspx">independent fact-finding mission</a> to investigate allegations of atrocities. The mission included former Australian Human Rights Commissioner Chris Sidoti, former Indonesian prosecutor general Marzuki Darusman and Sri Lankan human rights advocate Radhika Coomaraswamy. </p>
<p>They <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Pages/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=23575&LangID=E">published their first full report</a> in September 2018. Detailing the killing of thousands of Rohingya civilians, forced disappearances and mass gang rapes, it called for the Tatmadaw commander-in-chief, Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing, and five other commanders to be <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/08/1017802">tried for genocide</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-why-the-un-has-found-myanmars-military-committed-genocide-against-the-rohingya-102251">Explainer: why the UN has found Myanmar’s military committed genocide against the Rohingya</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Call to sever economic ties</h2>
<p>In September 2019 the mission published a report on the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/MyanmarFFM/Pages/EconomicInterestsMyanmarMilitary.aspx">Tatmadaw’s economic interests</a>. It recommended foreign businesses sever ties and cease all business dealings with Tatmadaw-controlled entities.</p>
<p>The report’s main focus was Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) and another conglomerate, Myanmar Economic Holding Ltd (MEHL). These two corporations have profited from near-monopoly control over many activities and industries under the junta. They have amassed huge land holdings and businesses in manufacturing, construction, real estate, industrial zones, finance and insurance, telecommunications and mining.</p>
<p>They became public companies <a href="https://www.mmtimes.com/business/23774-military-conglomerate-hoping-for-more-jvs.html">in late 2016</a>, but their profits still mostly flow to the military. </p>
<p>The report names foreign companies in commercial partnerships with them, including Adani, Kirin Holdings (Japan), Posco Steel (South Korea), Infosys (India) and Universal Apparel (Hong Kong). </p>
<p>The report also recommended governments and institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) take action to economically isolate the Myanmar military. </p>
<h2>Ethical responsibilities</h2>
<p>It is important to note the UN report did not call for general disinvestment from Myanmar. It encouraged businesses to enter, invest and contribute to much-needed economic development – but without associating with the military.</p>
<p>The question of isolation versus engagement has been a longstanding one for Myanmar. Until 2011 the United States, the European Union and countries including Australia imposed broad trade and diplomatic sanctions.</p>
<p>However, foreign companies often found a way to do business in Myanmar through various <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2013.04.005">low-profile strategies</a>. Companies in neighbouring countries in particular largely operated on a “business as usual” basis. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/engaging-in-myanmar-whose-interest-are-we-serving-21480">Engaging in Myanmar: whose interest are we serving?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Doing business in Myanmar without doing business with Tatmadaw interests is no easy task. Access to land and property is especially thorny, given so much is owned by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00472336.2015.1072731">crony companies</a>. </p>
<p>Adani, for example, has <a href="https://adanifacts.com.au/media-statement/">defended its port development</a> as contributing to Myanmar’s economic development, stating:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>While some nations, including Australia, have arms embargoes and travel restrictions on key members of the military in place, this does not preclude investment in the nation or business dealings with corporations such as MEC.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It notes its port investments in Myanmar are “held through Singapore-based entities and follow the strict regulations of the Singapore government”. </p>
<p>But doing business with the military conglomerates is less necessary than in the past. Creating separate subsidiaries does not shield investors from their ethical responsibilities to not help line the pockets of those responsible for genocide.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-must-do-more-to-ensure-myanmar-is-preventing-genocide-against-the-rohingya-147451">Australia must do more to ensure Myanmar is preventing genocide against the Rohingya</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Whether avoidable or necessary, when high-profile international businesses choose to enter into such deals they will certainly continue to be observed and criticised for making these choices.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/152318/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Htwe Htwe Thein has received funding for Myanmar research from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>Foreign companies are failing to heed the UN call to stop doing business with Myanmar’s blood-stained military elite.Htwe Htwe Thein, Associate professor, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1459102020-10-07T18:49:25Z2020-10-07T18:49:25ZSyrian refugees in Lebanon are misled on their chances of coming to Canada<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362039/original/file-20201006-18-dot2hu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5030%2C3524&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Syrian refugee holds up a sign with a portrait of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, during a protest outside the headquarters of the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, demanding to be moved out of Lebanon, in September 2020.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>With <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/the-lights-go-out-on-lebanons-economy-as-financial-collapse-accelerates/2020/07/19/3acfc33e-bb97-11ea-97c1-6cf116ffe26c_story.html">an economic crisis</a>, COVID-19 lockdowns and the summer’s Beirut explosion, Syrian refugees living in Lebanon express increasing fears that <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/07/31/lebanon-is-sick-and-tired-of-syrian-refugees/">they will be scapegoated</a> or <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/09/02/syrians-deported-lebanon-arrested-home">forced to return</a> to Syria by authorities trying to explain away crippling levels of unemployment and overwhelmed social services. </p>
<p>Some refugees hope to find a new refuge in Canada. Canada is a <a href="https://www.unhcr.ca/news/global-displacement-grows-80-million-people-canada-world-leader-refugee-resettlement/">world leader</a> in refugee resettlement in large part because of its use of <a href="https://doi.org/10.7202/1064822ar">private sponsorship programs</a> to encourage citizens and charitable organizations to support the integration of refugees into their communities. </p>
<p>But Canadians looking to help through sponsorship will find that <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/application-forms-guides/guide-6000-convention-refugees-abroad-humanitarian-protected-persons-abroad.html">most of these programs require that — in big bold letters — applicants already have refugee status</a>. </p>
<p>Those without status can only submit a refugee claim through one part of Canada’s private sponsorship program. This is through <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/refugees/help-outside-canada/private-sponsorship-program/agreement-holders.html">Sponsorship Agreement Holders</a> (SAHs) — organizations that the government of Canada has agreed can help to sponsor refugees from abroad.</p>
<p>Like many living in countries that aren’t signatories to the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, Syrians in Lebanon are very rarely given official refugee status. </p>
<h2>At risk of harm</h2>
<p>They’re treated instead as something between displaced persons seeking international protection and <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/world/guidelines-international-protection-no-11-prima-facie-recognition-refugee-status#:%7E:text=INTRODUCTION,country%20of%20former%20habitual%20residence"><em>prima facie</em> refugees</a> — recognized because conditions in their home country are known to put those who have fled at risk of harm. </p>
<p>In a country with <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/lb/at-a-glance">more refugees per capita</a> than any other, Lebanese authorities have few incentives to offer Syrians more. </p>
<p>Rather, they avoid integrating Syrians more permanently into Lebanese society in the hopes that Syrians, unlike the Palestinians who came before them, will only stay temporarily. </p>
<p>As an example, aid workers in Lebanon recently showed me where they had been prevented from raising refugee families’ tents out of muddy flood waters by using cement or gravel foundations. This would signal a permanence that authorities were unwilling to give. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Men work to take down a concrete block wall." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362182/original/file-20201007-14-3d2yxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362182/original/file-20201007-14-3d2yxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362182/original/file-20201007-14-3d2yxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362182/original/file-20201007-14-3d2yxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362182/original/file-20201007-14-3d2yxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362182/original/file-20201007-14-3d2yxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362182/original/file-20201007-14-3d2yxr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In this June 2019 photo, Syrian refugees demolish a concrete wall built inside their tent at a refugee camp in the eastern Lebanese border town of Arsal. Lebanese authorities ordered the demolition of anything in their squalid camps that could be a permanent home.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), meanwhile, has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2017.1371140">mostly adopted</a> Lebanese state language. Syrian “movement” or the Syrian “displaced” are often used in place of Syrian “refugee.” The UNHCR also avoids pushing for status determination for more than the most vulnerable Syrians, choosing not to ruffle too many feathers in order to protect its assistance in Lebanon. </p>
<h2>Syrians left out of debate</h2>
<p>Yet while scholars and practitioners debate the implications of this almost-a-refugee status on Syrian lives, often choosing pragmatism over advocacy, Syrians are regularly left out of the conversation. </p>
<p>Many do not know, and have not been told, that the registration papers they received from the UNHCR upon entering Lebanon are unlikely to move forward their claims for protected refugee status. Instead, refugees often said to me: “I’m on the list” for resettlement to Canada. </p>
<p>The first and most pressing concern is, therefore, that refugees are disempowered by an international refugee regime that is meant to support them. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Women hold up a protest sign reading 'We have the right to live in safety. Get us out of Lebanon.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362037/original/file-20201006-22-170sz7j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362037/original/file-20201006-22-170sz7j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362037/original/file-20201006-22-170sz7j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362037/original/file-20201006-22-170sz7j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362037/original/file-20201006-22-170sz7j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362037/original/file-20201006-22-170sz7j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362037/original/file-20201006-22-170sz7j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Syrian refugees protest outside the headquarters of the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, demanding to be moved out of Lebanon, in Beirut, Lebanon. The country is home to more than a million Syrian refugees.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Syrians, and refugees more broadly, are interested in protecting and advocating for themselves. But while the UNHCR is responsible for <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/4317223c9.pdf">informing Syrians of the process and outcomes of refugee status determination hearings</a>, when there are no hearings, it’s unclear that any such responsibility exists. </p>
<p>Refugees should be provided with the information they need to advocate for themselves.</p>
<p>Second, the complex legal status of many forcibly displaced people complicates potential third-country resettlement, in Canada and in countries <a href="https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/16902/private-sponsorship-refugee-resettlement-another-way">building new systems based on its model</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-canada-is-inspiring-scandinavian-countries-on-immigration-90911">How Canada is inspiring Scandinavian countries on immigration</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Millions in limbo</h2>
<p>Policy-makers should therefore do more to help refugees stuck in the grey areas, and more of them.</p>
<p>When someone does not have legal status as a refugee — even if they have a strong claim or come from a country where risk of harm is well known — their avenues are few. <a href="https://refugeeresearch.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/hyndman_feb%E2%80%9917.pdf">Previous loosening of restrictions by the Canadian government</a> for Syrians and sponsors are no longer in effect.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People stand near a green bus waving to its occupants." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362042/original/file-20201006-20-1hq9jb1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362042/original/file-20201006-20-1hq9jb1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362042/original/file-20201006-20-1hq9jb1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362042/original/file-20201006-20-1hq9jb1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362042/original/file-20201006-20-1hq9jb1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362042/original/file-20201006-20-1hq9jb1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362042/original/file-20201006-20-1hq9jb1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Syrian refugees staying in Lebanon wave goodbye to their relatives in a bus that will take them home to Syria, in Beirut, Lebanon, in December 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Depending on the government of the day, the political party in power and their appetite for accepting refugees in Canada, the number of spots allocated to SAHs varies. But no matter the party in power, SAH wait lists are long and under-resourced.</p>
<h2>Must know someone in Canada</h2>
<p>What’s more, because few Syrian asylum-seekers will be identified by the UNHCR in Lebanon for status determination and resettlement, only those with a foothold in Canada will have a chance at seeking refuge this way. They need to know someone able to bring their case to an SAH and raise the funds to cover the costs of a first year in Canada.</p>
<p>The need to have this kind of advocate can very quickly reproduce many of the blind spots and inequalities already built into the global refugee system.</p>
<p>As countries around the world develop their own private sponsorship systems or change their approaches to refugee resettlement, they should acknowledge how elusive refugee status can be. Policy-makers should proceed accordingly, increasing global capacities to resettle non-status refugees.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145910/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr. Emily K M Scott has received funding from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and is affiliated with the NGO Doctors Without Borders.</span></em></p>As countries around the world develop their own private sponsorship systems, they should acknowledge how elusive refugee status can be. Policy-makers should proceed accordingly.Emily K M Scott, Postdoctoral Researcher, International Relations and Comparative Politics, McGill UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1305322020-01-28T14:50:51Z2020-01-28T14:50:51ZUN ruling could be a game-changer for climate refugees and climate action<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312174/original/file-20200128-81369-1u53fni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2953%2C1852&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In this October 2011 photo, members of the Royal New Zealand defense force pump sea water into holding tanks ready to be used by the desalination plant in Funafuti, Tuvalu, South Pacific. The atolls of Tuvalu are at grave risk due to rising sea levels and contaminated ground water. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Alastair Grant</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The recent ruling by the United Nations that governments cannot return people to countries where their lives might be threatened by climate change is a potential game-changer — not just for climate refugees, but also for global climate action. </p>
<p>The UN Human Rights Committee’s <a href="https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CCPR%2fC%2f127%2fD%2f2728%2f2016&Lang=en">landmark ruling</a> made clear that “without robust national and international efforts, the effects of climate change in receiving states may expose individuals to violations of their rights … thereby triggering the <em>non-refoulement</em> obligations of sending states.”</p>
<p>The ruling elaborates further to say:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Given the risk of an entire country becoming submerged under water is such an extreme risk, the conditions of life in such a country may become incompatible with the right to life with dignity before the risk is realized.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The judgment relates to the case of <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/01/28/the-making-of-a-climate-refugee-kiribati-tarawa-teitiota/">Ioane Teitiota</a>, a man from the Pacific island of Kiribati. </p>
<p>In 2015, Teitiota applied for protection from New Zealand after arguing his life and his family members’ lives were at risk due to the effects of climate change and sea level rise. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312167/original/file-20200128-81352-yo1zyy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312167/original/file-20200128-81352-yo1zyy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312167/original/file-20200128-81352-yo1zyy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312167/original/file-20200128-81352-yo1zyy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312167/original/file-20200128-81352-yo1zyy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312167/original/file-20200128-81352-yo1zyy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312167/original/file-20200128-81352-yo1zyy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The South Pacific atoll Kiribati is seen in an aerial view. There are fears that climate change could wipe out their entire Pacific archipelago.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Richard Vogel</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Republic of Kiribati is considered one of the countries <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/23/waiting-for-the-tide-to-turn-kiribatis-fight-for-survival">most at risk of being rendered uninhabitable by rising sea levels</a>. The UN committee ruled, however, that in the time that might happen — 10 to 15 years — there could be “intervening acts by the Republic of Kiribati, with the assistance of the international community, to take affirmative measures to protect and, where necessary, relocate its population.”</p>
<p>As a result, the committee ruled against Teitiota on the basis that his life was not at imminent risk. </p>
<h2>Climate refugees acknowledged</h2>
<p>Teitiota did not become the world’s first climate refugee, but the committee’s ruling essentially recognized that climate refugees do exist, a first for the UN body. The ruling acknowledges a legal basis for refugee protection for those whose lives are imminently threatened by climate change. </p>
<p>For several decades, academics and policy-makers alike have debated the existence of climate refugees, with many asserting that because migration can be fuelled by many factors, climate change cannot be singled out as the sole driver of any movement. </p>
<p>However, with the acceleration of the climate crisis over the last 10 years, <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/07/1043551">people are increasingly being displaced by disasters, desertification and coastal erosion linked to climate change</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312106/original/file-20200127-81352-zpvkcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312106/original/file-20200127-81352-zpvkcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312106/original/file-20200127-81352-zpvkcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312106/original/file-20200127-81352-zpvkcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312106/original/file-20200127-81352-zpvkcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312106/original/file-20200127-81352-zpvkcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312106/original/file-20200127-81352-zpvkcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In this October 2015 photo, young children of a family that relocated from a drought area gather at their home in northwestern China.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Ng Han Guan</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, confirmed that the recent ruling means those displaced by climate change should be treated like refugees by recipient countries. <a href="https://business.financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/world-needs-to-prepare-for-millions-of-climate-refugees-un">Grandi noted</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The ruling says if you have an immediate threat to your life due to climate change, due to the climate emergency, and if you cross the border and go to another country, you should not be sent back because you would be at risk of your life, just like in a war or in a situation of persecution.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Grandi and some <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/20/world/climate-refugees-unhrc-ruling-scli-intl/index.html">media commentators</a> have predicted the ruling may open the door to surges of legal claims by displaced people globally. But the burden of proof that someone’s life is under imminent threat by climate change remains high.</p>
<p>Teitiota’s case is a good example. Despite his arguments that sea level rise, overpopulation and salt-water intrusion were threatening his life and the lives of his family, the New Zealand court and the UN Human Rights Committee ruled against him, saying he could not prove that his life was in imminent danger.</p>
<h2>Floodgates not open yet</h2>
<p>And so while this latest UN ruling is a momentous first step in international law, it by no means opens the floodgates to surges of climate refugees. </p>
<p>But it does represent a win for global climate action. It’s not legally binding, but it illustrates to governments around the world that climate change will have an increasing impact on their legal obligations under international law. This is great news for citizens and governments of small island states who have long <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/16/australia/australia-pacific-islands-climate-crisis-intl-hnk/index.html">pushed for climate action</a> but have been met with delays and rejections.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312169/original/file-20200128-81403-1s2nwnb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312169/original/file-20200128-81403-1s2nwnb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312169/original/file-20200128-81403-1s2nwnb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312169/original/file-20200128-81403-1s2nwnb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312169/original/file-20200128-81403-1s2nwnb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312169/original/file-20200128-81403-1s2nwnb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312169/original/file-20200128-81403-1s2nwnb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312169/original/file-20200128-81403-1s2nwnb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses the Pacific Islands Forum in May 2019 in Suva, Fiji.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fiji Broadcasting via AP</span></span>
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<p>For example, during last year’s Pacific Island Forum that brings together 16 Pacific island nations, as well as Australia and New Zealand, the <a href="https://www.forumsec.org/who-we-arepacific-islands-forum/">16 islands</a> put forward the Tuvalu Declaration to ask for more action on climate change. </p>
<p>But sections of the original declaration were struck down due to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/16/australia/australia-pacific-islands-climate-crisis-intl-hnk/index.html">reservations from Australia and New Zealand</a>. Australia reportedly had concerns about emissions reductions, coal use and funding for the UN’s <a href="https://www.greenclimate.fund/home">Green Climate Fund</a>, while New Zealand also expressed concern about the fund.</p>
<p>Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama criticized the <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6280849-Kainaki-II-Declaration.html#document/p1">final declaration</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/FijiPM/status/1162001343176855557?s=20">tweeting</a>: “We came together in a nation that risks disappearing to the seas, but unfortunately, we settled for the status quo in our communique.”</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1162001343176855557"}"></div></p>
<p>Tuvalu Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga also told Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“You are concerned about saving your economies … I’m concerned about saving my people.”</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312177/original/file-20200128-81336-mvgkie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312177/original/file-20200128-81336-mvgkie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312177/original/file-20200128-81336-mvgkie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312177/original/file-20200128-81336-mvgkie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312177/original/file-20200128-81336-mvgkie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312177/original/file-20200128-81336-mvgkie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312177/original/file-20200128-81336-mvgkie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In this photo released by the Australian Department of Defense, evacuees board a Navy ship that plucked hundreds of people from beaches amid devastating bushfires.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Australia Department of Defense via AP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Ironically, following bushfires that recently raged across Australia and displaced thousands, concerns have arisen that <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2020-01-22/australia-s-climate-refugees-video">Australia will soon have to deal with its own climate refugees</a>.</p>
<p>The pressure is mounting for world leaders to take serious climate action to aggressively curb greenhouse gas emissions. The latest UN ruling is step towards improving the lives of those most vulnerable and affected by climate change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130532/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yvonne Su does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A recent ruling by the UN’s Human Rights Committee recognized that climate refugees do exist, and acknowledged a legal basis for protecting them when their lives are threatened by climate change.Yvonne Su, PhD, International Development and Political Science, University of GuelphLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1065342018-12-09T19:09:24Z2018-12-09T19:09:24ZHuman rights in 2018 – ten issues that made headlines<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248931/original/file-20181205-186079-aeftkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Rohingya women and children being moved on a truck south of Yangon, Myanmar.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/EPA/Lynn Bo Bo</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On December 10, the world marks 70 years since the adoption of the <a href="http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/">Universal Declaration of Human Rights</a>. Regrettably, instead of the anniversary signalling the enduring impact of human rights, some are fearing the “<a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/04/09/the-end-of-human-rights-genocide-united-nations-r2p-terrorism/">end of human rights</a>”. Here we highlight some of the rights challenges that captured the world’s attention this year, illustrating the struggle to secure human rights is far from over.</p>
<p><strong>1. Australia’s first year on the UN Human Rights Council</strong></p>
<p>Australia took its place on the UN Human Rights Council this year for a three-year term. Australia delivered a <a href="https://foreignminister.gov.au/releases/Pages/2018/mp_mr_181001.aspx">strong statement</a> about Myanmar’s atrocities against ethnic Rohingya Muslims, but was criticised for holding refugees and asylum seekers offshore. While Australia supported important country resolutions, it failed to take a leadership role on any key issues.</p>
<p><strong>2. United States’ retreat from Human Rights Council</strong></p>
<p>The US faced international condemnation when it <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/19/us-quits-un-human-rights-council-cesspool-political-bias">quit the Human Rights Council</a>, calling it a “protector of human rights abusers and a cesspool of political bias”. The US has long complained of the council’s perceived bias against Israel. But, by withdrawing, the US decreased its options for confronting and addressing human rights violators. This increases the responsibility of governments like Australia’s to ensure the council addresses the world’s most serious human rights violations.</p>
<p><strong>3. Violence against women</strong></p>
<p>In Australia, while the #MeToo movement has spurred women to come forward with their experiences of sexual harassment and abuse, a number of high-profile cases of alleged sexual harassment by actors and politicians highlighted ongoing barriers to justice for victims. At the same time, the #countingdeadwomen femicide index reports that one woman in Australia is killed every week by an intimate partner. </p>
<p><strong>4. Facebook’s reckoning</strong></p>
<p>Free speech, privacy and electoral integrity came under the microscope in March, when a former employee of Cambridge Analytica blew the whistle on <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-cambridge-analyticas-facebook-targeting-model-really-worked-according-to-the-person-who-built-it-94078">its practice of harvesting data</a> from millions of US Facebook users in an effort to influence the 2016 presidential elections. </p>
<p>Cambridge Analytica was also <a href="https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/243009/Report-on-Investigation-Leave.EU.pdf">investigated in the UK</a> for a possible role in the Brexit referendum. </p>
<p>There is also <a href="https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/myanmar-facebook-hate/">growing criticism of Facebook</a> for not doing enough to stop its use to spread hate speech. For example, in Myanmar it has been used as a tool to incite violence against Rohingya. </p>
<p><strong>5. Rohingya crisis</strong></p>
<p>In August, a UN Fact Finding Mission on Myanmar, which included Australian human rights expert Chris Sidoti, delivered a scathing <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/MyanmarFFM/Pages/ReportoftheMyanmarFFM.aspx">report</a> detailing crimes against humanity, war crimes, sexual violence and possible genocide by Myanmar’s security forces against the Rohingya.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-why-the-un-has-found-myanmars-military-committed-genocide-against-the-rohingya-102251">Explainer: why the UN has found Myanmar’s military committed genocide against the Rohingya</a>
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<p>The UN Human Rights Council, in response, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-rohingya-un/u-n-sets-up-body-to-prepare-myanmar-atrocity-prosecution-files-idUSKCN1M71W0">created a mechanism</a> to collect and preserve evidence to aid future prosecutions for atrocity crimes in Myanmar. Australia joined other Western nations in imposing targeted sanctions on military officers named in the UN report. While the Australian government maintains an arms embargo on Myanmar, our defence forces continue to provide training to the Myanmar military.</p>
<p><strong>6. Crackdown against Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang</strong></p>
<p>Turkic Muslims in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region have long faced repression. In 2018, Human Rights Watch and others <a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/09/09/eradicating-ideological-viruses/chinas-campaign-repression-against-xinjiangs">reported</a> an escalation in this repression with the government detaining 1 million people in political re-education camps, with evidence of their torture and mistreatment. Muslims not detained still face pervasive controls on freedom of movement and religion. The Foreign Affairs Department revealed <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-25/three-australians-were-detained-in-chinas-xinjiang-camps/10429116">under parliamentary questioning</a> that three Australians were detained in the camps. </p>
<p><strong>7. Saudi Arabia</strong></p>
<p>Saudi Arabia made international headlines when a prominent journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The case prompted a closer examination of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record. The country’s repression, imprisonment and ill-treatment of activists includes the alleged torture of leading women’s rights defenders.</p>
<p>In Yemen, the Saudi-led coalition has committed <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/09/02/yemen-coalition-bus-bombing-apparent-war-crime">many violations of international humanitarian law</a>, including apparent war crimes, killing thousands of civilians. Millions of Yemenis are confronting a famine, in part because of restrictions on aid delivery. Yet the USA, UK, France and Australia sell the Saudi government weapons and military equipment that may well contribute to its Yemen campaign. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248916/original/file-20181205-100844-18bn7p9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248916/original/file-20181205-100844-18bn7p9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248916/original/file-20181205-100844-18bn7p9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248916/original/file-20181205-100844-18bn7p9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248916/original/file-20181205-100844-18bn7p9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248916/original/file-20181205-100844-18bn7p9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248916/original/file-20181205-100844-18bn7p9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Millions of Yemenis are facing a famine.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Yarya Arhab/AAP/EPA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>8. Children off Nauru</strong></p>
<p>Australia’s government <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-children-are-airlifted-from-nauru-a-cruel-and-inhumane-policy-may-finally-be-ending-105487">appeared to respond</a> to the “Kids Off Nauru” campaign launched by civil society groups, medical professionals and lawyers. <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-06/morrison-slams-shorten-on-border-control/10589114">December figures</a> show ten refugee children remain on the island, down from 119 children in August.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/as-children-are-airlifted-from-nauru-a-cruel-and-inhumane-policy-may-finally-be-ending-105487">As children are airlifted from Nauru, a cruel and inhumane policy may finally be ending</a>
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<p>Mounting political pressure forced the government to remove children who had been transferred there in 2013 and 2014, though many were removed from Nauru only after legal proceedings were started. But the departure of families makes the situation even more desperate for the adults left behind. And those transferred to Australia are told they will not remain permanently, keeping them in limbo. </p>
<p><strong>9. One year since the Uluru statement</strong></p>
<p>Indigenous communities have fought hard throughout 2018 to have the federal government focus on the <a href="https://www.referendumcouncil.org.au/event/uluru-statement-from-the-heart">Uluru Statement from the Heart</a>, after the Turnbull government dismissed it out of hand in 2017.</p>
<p>The statement calls for a constitutionally enshrined “First Nations Voice” in parliament and the establishment of a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-10/makarrata-explainer-yolngu-word-more-than-synonym-for-treaty/8790452">Makarrata Commission</a> to supervise agreement-making between governments and First Nations, and facilitate truth-telling of First Nations’ histories. These steps were seen as laying the foundation for a treaty with Australia’s First Nations peoples. A <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Constitutional_Recognition_2018/ConstRecognition/Final_Report/section?id=committees%2freportjnt%2f024213%2f26813">2018 parliamentary committee</a> endorsed the need for a voice in parliament and has called for a process of co-design between Indigenous people and government appointees.</p>
<p><strong>10. LGBTI discrimination</strong></p>
<p>One year on from the breakthrough on marriage equality, the parliamentary year ended with Australia’s politicians unable to find a way to remove legislative exemptions allowing religious schools to discriminate against <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/heartbroken-law-to-end-discrimination-against-lgbti-students-delayed-until-next-year-20181205-p50kal.html">LGBTI pupils and teachers</a>. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/political-impasse-stops-protection-for-lgbt-students-passing-this-year-108272">Political impasse stops protection for LGBT students passing this year</a>
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<p><a href="https://www.hrlc.org.au/news/2018/12/5/morrison-bill-leaves-lgbt-students-at-risk-of-discrimination">Advocates</a> and the Labor opposition rejected government amendments that sought to stop schools being able to exclude students on the basis of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or sex characteristics, but would also allow them to enforce rules in line with their religious teachings.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106534/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Louise Chappell receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elaine Pearson is Australia Director of Human Rights Watch. </span></em></p>The issues that captured the world’s attention this year show the struggle to secure human rights is far from over.Louise Chappell, Director of the Australian Human Rights Institute; Professor of Law, UNSW SydneyElaine Pearson, Adjunct Lecturer in Law, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/986442018-06-20T12:36:55Z2018-06-20T12:36:55ZWhy the US left the UN Human Rights Council – and why it matters<p>The US’s announcement that it is <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/44537372">leaving the UN Human Rights Council</a> should not surprise anyone, since the Trump administration has long made clear its disdain for many parts of the United Nations. But the damage that the decision is likely to cause could nonetheless topple an increasingly wobbly house of cards.</p>
<p>When the Human Rights Council was created in 2006, the US (then under the Bush administration) <a href="https://www.un.org/press/en/2006/ga10449.doc.htm">voted against its establishment</a> and refused to stand for election to it, though it nonetheless provided the Council with significant funding and supported its work as the UN’s only intergovernmental human rights body. The US’s objections centred on the argument that the design of the Council did not do enough to address problems of politicisation, bias and the membership eligibility of well-known rights violators – problems that had dogged its predecessor. And those arguments have continued throughout the Council’s 12-year history.</p>
<p>Many countries and NGOs have <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/UNHRC_Country_Specific_v1.pdf">criticised</a> the council’s bias against Israel, and the presence of grave human rights abusers (such as Burundi) as members of the body. But even the Council’s harshest critics have generally recognised that to make effective changes, you have to be in the ring. The US’s decision to leave bucks that trend.</p>
<p>The Council has 47 members, elected for fixed terms, with seats distributed to ensure proportionate geographic representation. Because it is made up of states represented by diplomats tasked with protecting their national interests, it is an inherently political entity. Its remit is to promote, protect and develop human rights – but it only has “soft” powers, not legally binding ones. Instead, much of its work involves fact-finding, information-sharing, capacity-building, and technical assistance. On those fronts, it has often had great success, particularly in <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2011/09/22/un-human-rights-council-build-recent-successes">establishing international investigations</a> into major violations worldwide.</p>
<p>But as would be expected with any political body – let alone one representing all nation states – the Council undeniably suffers from deep problems.</p>
<h2>Bias and diversion</h2>
<p>One of the most glaring and long-running issues is an <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-rights-violators-keep-the-un-human-rights-council-focused-on-israel-44319">excessive and disproportionate focus on Israel</a>. There is no question that Israel commits human rights abuses in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, or that it is an occupying power in those territories. But since the Council’s creation, those human rights abuses have received more scrutiny than grotesque atrocities elsewhere.</p>
<p>Israel is the only country singled out for its own item on the Council’s permanent agenda, <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/1.4944826">Agenda Item 7</a>. There have been more special sessions convened on Israel than any other country, even Syria. And in total, Israel has received more of the council’s attention than the Democratic Republic of Congo (where millions of people have been <a href="https://www.cfr.org/interactives/global-conflict-tracker#!/conflict/violence-in-the-democratic-republic-of-congo">killed or displaced</a> in recent years), Darfur and Sri Lanka (where genocides were perpetrated), North Korea, and Yemen. And this is not just more than each of those countries – but <a href="http://time.com/3060203/united-nations-human-rights-council-israel/">more than all of them combined</a>.</p>
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<p>This disproportionate scrutiny undermines the Council’s credibility and diverts resources away from other areas that desperately require attention. But some countries have taken some steps to address the issue. The sessions convened around Agenda Item 7 are not well attended, with many states refusing to participate in the discussions about Israel at every council session. And pressure has been placed on the Organisation of Islamic States, a political bloc with 54 members, not to constantly raise Israel during discussions on all other regular agenda items.</p>
<p>Let’s be clear: even though there is disproportionate and excessive attention placed on Israel, the Council does focus on an awful lot of other grave and crisis situations. And that work is not overshadowed or cancelled out simply because of bias against Israel.</p>
<p>A second oft-cited criticism of the Council is that it allows well-known human rights abusers to take seats. But this is an intergovernmental body – and that means all states have the opportunity to stand for election. If elected by their peers, they have the right to be a member. There are “soft” membership criteria, and states make pledges and commitments during their campaigns – but, ultimately, it comes down to elections.</p>
<p>Some known rights abusers, notably <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-rights-un/iran-withdraws-bid-for-seat-on-u-n-rights-council-idUSTRE63M4GV20100424?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Reuters%2FworldNews+%28Reuters+World+News%29">Iran</a> and <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2011/05/11/un-syria-ends-rights-body-bid-not-repression">Syria</a>, previously withdrew their candidacies when it became clear that they wouldn’t be elected, while Libya’s membership was <a href="https://www.un.org/press/en/2011/ga11050.doc.htm">suspended</a> in 2011 because of the serious human rights violations occurring there. But other violators have secured membership – most recently, Burundi was put forward by the African Group and <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2015/10/514042-general-assembly-elects-18-members-un-human-rights-council">elected to the Council</a> despite its <a href="https://theconversation.com/democracy-in-peril-burundis-referendum-will-cement-nkurunzizas-grip-on-power-96544">ongoing</a> gross and systemic rights violations.</p>
<h2>Giving up</h2>
<p>The Council is also used by some states to promote agendas that directly undermine human rights. Countries such as Cuba, Pakistan and Russia have been at the forefront of <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-push-to-protect-family-values-is-a-brazen-attack-on-human-rights-43815">efforts</a> to protect “the family” or “religious freedom” in order to justify state-sponsored violence and discrimination against ethnic, religious and sexual orientation minorities.</p>
<p>For these and other reasons, there have been some efforts to try to implement hard and soft reforms. The Trump administration initially made that reform agenda central to its engagement with the Council – in recent weeks it floated a draft resolution on reforms and sought allies to co-sponsor it. But while many countries and NGOs agreed with the substance of the proposal, it was <a href="https://www.ishr.ch/news/hrc-council-must-be-strengthened-ground-enhance-impact">strongly and publicly opposed</a> by several organisations, among them Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Service for Human Rights.</p>
<p>Those NGOs wrote to 60 states setting out concerns that opening a formal reform process would likely backfire, with states hostile to human rights using that process to undermine rather than strengthen the Human Rights Council. Their intervention seems to have been the final straw for the US. But although the Trump administration has long made it clear that human rights and multilateralism are not its priorities, this move will have a major impact. Even America’s closest allies on the Council have expressed their <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/06/withdrawal-human-rights-council-180620060224309.html">disappointment</a> at this decision.</p>
<p>The Council is the world’s main human rights body – and it is crucial that all states engage with its work. The US has long been a leader on human rights, particularly through its work and support for the UN’s Geneva-based human rights mechanisms. By abandoning ship, the US has made it that much harder for like-minded states to protect and promote human rights. And it has set a dangerous and worrying precedent that other countries, particularly those who commit grave violations, may emulate.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98644/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rosa Freedman has received funding from the British Academy and the Arts and Humanities Research Council.</span></em></p>While not exactly surprising coming from the Trump administration, backing out of a major UN body is bound to have serious consequences.Rosa Freedman, Professor of Law, Conflict and Global Development, University of ReadingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/871692017-11-09T23:13:04Z2017-11-09T23:13:04ZUN slams Australia’s human rights record<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/194073/original/file-20171109-13299-1ve63r1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The UN committee urged Australia to end offshore processing and bring the men on Manus to Australia or another safe country.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last night, the United Nations Human Rights Committee released its <a href="http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CCPR/Shared%20Documents/AUS/INT_CCPR_COC_AUS_29445_E.pdf">recommendations</a> from its <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/world/australia-grilled-on-human-rights-by-un-20171018-gz3qwe.html">review</a> of Australia’s compliance with a key human rights treaty, the <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CCPR.aspx">International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights</a>.</p>
<p>The committee harshly criticised Australia for failures in key areas. These included the treatment of refugees, <a href="https://theconversation.com/with-a-seat-on-the-un-human-rights-council-australia-must-fix-its-record-on-indigenous-rights-86060">Indigenous rights</a> and inadequate protection of human rights, including the lack of a <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-a-charter-of-rights-could-protect-australians-fundamental-freedoms-81947">national human rights act</a>. </p>
<h2>What is the UN Human Rights Committee?</h2>
<p>This is the treaty body for the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The committee is made up of 18 <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CCPR/Pages/Membership.aspx">independent human rights experts</a>. Its key functions are to:</p>
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<li><p>monitor and review state parties’ compliance with the treaty; and</p></li>
<li><p>decide complaints made by individuals against state parties.</p></li>
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<h2>What did the committee say about Australia’s human rights record?</h2>
<p>The committee noted areas in which Australia’s record had improved. These included the establishment of the <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Human_Rights">Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights</a> and the introduction of protections against discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/with-a-seat-on-the-un-human-rights-council-australia-must-fix-its-record-on-indigenous-rights-86060">With a seat on the UN Human Rights Council, Australia must fix its record on Indigenous rights</a>
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<p>The committee also commended Australia for its <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-09/australia-pledges-to-ratify-opcat-torture-treaty/8255782">commitment</a> to ratifying the <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/OPCAT.aspx">Optional Protocol on the Convention against Torture</a>. </p>
<p>However, concerns far outweighed improvements in human rights. </p>
<h2>The rights of refugees</h2>
<p>The committee widely criticised Australia’s refugee policy for breaching Australia’s human rights obligations under the convention. </p>
<p>It raised concerns about refoulement (the forcible return of refugees to their home countries), mandatory detention, <a href="http://www.osb.border.gov.au/">Operation Sovereign Borders</a> and offshore detention. This includes the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-31/manus-island-detention-centre-to-close-at-5pm-today/9102768">recent closure</a> of the Manus Island Regional Processing Centre.</p>
<p>The committee urged Australia to end offshore processing and bring the men on Manus to Australia or another safe country. It emphasised the need for detention to be used to assess individual risk, not as a general deterrent. It also found that Australia has “effective control” over the detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island. </p>
<h2>The rights of Indigenous people</h2>
<p>The committee expressed concern about disproportionately high (27%) <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/4517.0%7E2016%7EMain%20Features%7EImprisonment%20rates%7E12">Indigenous incarceration rates</a>. It recommended that measures such as mandatory sentencing and imprisonment for not paying fines be repealed.</p>
<p>The committee further recommended that Australia provide adequate funding to the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples, and consider constitutional change to reflect the special status and fully protect the equal rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.</p>
<p>As it has done before, the committee urged Australia to establish a national reparations scheme for members of the Stolen Generation.</p>
<h2>The rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people</h2>
<p>The committee roundly criticised unnecessary medical interventions on intersex people, particularly intersex infants and children. It recommended that the requirement for Family Court authorisation for second-stage hormone treatment for young people diagnosed with gender dysphoria be removed.</p>
<p>Barriers to gender and sex recognition on documents were also criticised. </p>
<p>The committee took a strong stance on the same-sex marriage postal survey. It stated that:</p>
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<p>resort[ing] to public opinion polls to facilitate upholding rights under the Covenant in general, and equality and non-discrimination of minority groups in particular, is not an acceptable decision-making method. </p>
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<p>The committee recommended that the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2016C00938">Marriage Act</a> be amended, regardless of the outcome of the postal survey.</p>
<h2>The rights of women</h2>
<p>The committee noted the <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4906.0">endemic nature</a> of violence against women, and the disproportionate impact this has on Indigenous women and women with a disability. It recommended that Australia increase its efforts to prevent all forms of violence against women.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-home-affairs-department-should-prompt-review-of-australias-human-rights-performance-81167">New Home Affairs department should prompt review of Australia's human rights performance</a>
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<p>The committee again raised concerns about the involuntary sterilisation of women and girls with intellectual and cognitive disability, and recommended that Australia abolish this practice.</p>
<h2>The human rights framework</h2>
<p>As in previous reviews, the committee recommended that Australia introduce a comprehensive national human rights act to give effect to the human rights protections in the covenant.</p>
<p>It also recommended that federal anti-discrimination laws be strengthened to ensure effective protection against all forms of discrimination. It specifically noted the lack of federal protection against discrimination on the basis of religion. </p>
<p>The committee criticised previous <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/comment/attacks-on-our-human-rights-commission-are-part-of-a-broader-disturbing-trend-20150225-13o6e8.html">attacks</a> by politicians on the Australian Human Rights Commission and recommended that Australia respect the independence of that body. </p>
<h2>Where to from here?</h2>
<p>The release of these recommendations comes at a crucial time for Australia, which last month <a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/10/17/australia-wins-seat-un-human-rights-council-despite-criticism">won a seat</a> on the <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Pages/AboutCouncil.aspx">UN Human Rights Council</a>. </p>
<p>The council is responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights, and for addressing human rights violations around the world. </p>
<p>Council members must demonstrate their willingness to improve their domestic human rights situation. To claim legitimacy in human rights on the world stage, Australia needs to demonstrate a genuine commitment to human rights at home. </p>
<p>Under the committee’s <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/Pages/FollowUpProcedure.aspx">follow-up procedure</a>, Australia must explain how it will implement selected recommendations within 12 months. The committee’s selected recommendations focus on Australia’s treatment of refugees. </p>
<p>Australia was criticised at the review for a history of “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/oct/19/unacceptable-un-committee-damns-australias-record-on-human-rights">chronic non-compliance</a>” with committee recommendations. The challenge for Australia will be to engage positively with the recommendations and urgently implement substantive change to promote and protect human rights.</p>
<p>A good starting point would be a national human rights act, to fully incorporate Australia’s international human rights obligations into law. Furthermore, Australia should reconsider its response to the Referendum Council’s recommendation of an <a href="https://www.referendumcouncil.org.au/sites/default/files/2017-05/Uluru_Statement_From_The_Heart_0.PDF">Indigenous voice to parliament</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87169/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anna Cody works at Kingsford Legal Centre which receives funding from the Attorney General's Department.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maria Nawaz works at Kingsford Legal Centre, which receives funding from the Attorney-General's Department Australia.</span></em></p>The UN report findings show that concerns far outweigh any improvements in Australia’s human rights record.Anna Cody, Associate Professor and Director, Kingsford Legal Centre, UNSW SydneyMaria Nawaz, Law Reform Solicitor/Clinical Legal Supervisor, Kingsford Legal Centre, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/860602017-10-25T19:06:04Z2017-10-25T19:06:04ZWith a seat on the UN Human Rights Council, Australia must fix its record on Indigenous rights<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/191756/original/file-20171024-13357-dzm0s0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The UN Human Rights Committee challenged the Australian government to produce policy that truly includes Indigenous people.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Dean Lewins</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It was a big week for Australia at the United Nations last week. It <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-human-rights-council-election-comes-with-a-challenge-to-improve-its-domestic-record-80953">won a seat</a> on the leading international human rights body, the UN Human Rights Council, for a three-year term. The UN Human Rights Committee also <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/world/australia-grilled-on-human-rights-by-un-20171018-gz3qwe.html">reviewed</a> Australia’s compliance with a key human rights treaty, the <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CCPR.aspx">International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights</a>.</p>
<p>One would assume the Human Rights Council seat means Australia will lead on issues of human rights domestically, including in the area of Indigenous rights (one of the <a href="http://dfat.gov.au/international-relations/international-organisations/pages/australias-candidacy-for-the-unhrc-2018-2020.aspx">five pillars</a> of Australia’s bid) and self-determination. </p>
<p>However, as the UN Human Rights Committee review showed, Australia is failing to meet basic human rights standards for Indigenous peoples.</p>
<h2>Violence against women in Indigenous communities</h2>
<p>To its credit, the Australian government delegation was open and frank in its dialogue with the committee. The delegation acknowledged key areas in which the country needs to improve.</p>
<p>One of the pressing issues affecting Indigenous communities is family violence. Indigenous women are <a href="http://www.klc.unsw.edu.au/sites/klc.unsw.edu.au/files/Australian%20NGO%20coalition%20submission%20to%20the%20Human%20Rights%20Committee.pdf">45 times more likely</a> to experience violence than non-Indigenous women. The severity of the violence is also greater, with higher rates of hospitalisation.</p>
<p>The government delegation acknowledged that the rate of violence against Indigenous women was “appalling”. It referred to “A$25 million for Indigenous-specific measures” and a “trauma-informed approach for children affected by violence”. This is just one measure the government is adopting to deal with violence against Indigenous women. </p>
<p>The NGO coalition, led by Kingsford Legal Centre and the Human Rights Law Centre, agreed with the government delegation that an area for hope was the recent <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-09/june-oscar-indigenous-social-justice-commissioner/8256178">appointment</a> of June Oscar as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner at the Human Rights Commission. Oscar has been at the forefront of effective, Aboriginal-led initiatives to deal with family violence in Fitzroy Crossing.</p>
<p>Indeed, the NGO coalition called for the government to include Indigenous women in the monitoring and evaluation of the <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/women/programs-services/reducing-violence/the-national-plan-to-reduce-violence-against-women-and-their-children-2010-2022">National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and Their Children</a>. It also called on it to fund Indigenous community-controlled services with expertise in working with victims/survivors of family violence.</p>
<h2>Indigenous incarceration rates</h2>
<p>An area in which Australia continues to breach international human rights standards is <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-qanda-are-indigenous-australians-the-most-incarcerated-people-on-earth-78528">Indigenous incarceration rates</a>. The national imprisonment rate for Indigenous adults is 13 times higher than that for non-Indigenous adults. While Indigenous people are only 2% of the population, <a href="http://www.klc.unsw.edu.au/sites/klc.unsw.edu.au/files/Australian%20NGO%20coalition%20submission%20to%20the%20Human%20Rights%20Committee.pdf">they account for</a> 27% of the prison population. </p>
<p>Mandatory sentencing and imprisonment for fine default, as canvassed by the current Australian Law Reform Commission <a href="https://www.alrc.gov.au/inquiries/indigenous-incarceration">inquiry</a>, are key contributors to these statistics.</p>
<p>The UN Human Rights Committee repeatedly noted its concern about Indigenous incarceration rates and focused on policing of Indigenous communities. A committee member raised the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-16/ms-dhu-inquest-coroner-slams-police-over-death-in-custody/8122898">case of Ms Dhu</a>, who died in custody in Western Australia after being arrested for defaulting on fines. He asked why the laws providing for imprisonment for fine default had not yet been “scrapped”.</p>
<p>The committee also raised the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-29/indigenous-woman-jailed-over-unpaid-fines-after-police-call/9002656">recent case</a> of an Aboriginal woman who called WA police for help in a domestic violence situation. She was taken into custody for a fine default, leaving her five children without support. </p>
<p>The Australian government was asked how this represented a “trauma-informed” approach to dealing with family violence.</p>
<h2>Self-determination and constitutional reform</h2>
<p>One of the key areas of interest for the NGO delegation and the committee was the response to entrenched disadvantage through effective policy. This connected closely with the identification of constitutional reform as advocated by Indigenous delegates at the regional dialogue process that produced the <a href="https://theconversation.com/listening-to-the-heart-what-now-for-indigenous-recognition-after-the-uluru-summit-77853">Uluru Statement</a>.</p>
<p>The NGO delegation highlighted the need for Aboriginal-led policy design as articulated in the <a href="http://nationalcongress.com.au/about-us/redfern-statement/">Redfern Statement</a> and by numerous movements agitating for Indigenous rights since colonisation. The government delegation was keen to focus on constitutional recognition, while the NGO delegation advocated strongly for <a href="https://theconversation.com/response-to-referendum-council-report-suggests-a-narrow-path-forward-on-indigenous-constitutional-reform-80315">constitutional reform</a> in accordance with the Uluru Statement.</p>
<p>In fairness to the Australian delegation, it certainly recognised the need for Indigenous-designed policy and implementation. This flies in the face of the government’s actions in <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/national-congress-faces-uncertain-future/7991460">cutting funding</a> to Indigenous-controlled organisations, including the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples.</p>
<p>In 2014, funding for Aboriginal services was substantially cut from $2.4 billion to $860 million under the <a href="http://www.indigenous.gov.au/indigenous-advancement-strategy">Indigenous Advancement Strategy</a>. And 55% of grants were allocated to non-Indigenous bodies, effectively <a href="http://www.klc.unsw.edu.au/sites/klc.unsw.edu.au/files/Australian%20NGO%20coalition%20submission%20to%20the%20Human%20Rights%20Committee.pdf">mainstreaming services</a>. </p>
<h2>Where to from here?</h2>
<p>The UN Human Rights Committee challenged the Australian government to produce policy that truly includes Indigenous people. </p>
<p>One of the challenges of human rights treaty reviews is to ensure that the government implements the recommendations that the committee makes. Australia has a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/oct/19/unacceptable-un-committee-damns-australias-record-on-human-rights">terrible record</a> in this area, being called out for “chronic non-compliance” by the committee.</p>
<p>Hopefully, the seat on the Human Rights Council will encourage the government to heed the words of the UN Human Rights Committee and ensure real progress on Indigenous rights.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86060/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anna Cody receives funding from the attorney-general's department.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maria Nawaz works at Kingsford Legal Centre, which receives funding from Attorney-General's Department Australia. </span></em></p>Australia came in for some harsh criticism from the UN Human Right Committee in regard to its treatment of Indigenous issues – a problem that must now seriously be addressed.Anna Cody, Associate Professor and Director, Kingsford Legal Centre, UNSW SydneyMaria Nawaz, Law Reform Solicitor/Clinical Legal Supervisor, Kingsford Legal Centre, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.