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Climate Displacement: The Muddle on Terminology
16 Nov 2009 20:44:00 GMT
Author: Joel Charny

As fears of the global impact of climate change grow, Im seeing more and more references in the media to climate refugees, the millions of people who may be forcibly displaced by the natural and man-made disasters that climate change will provoke. As a descriptive phrase it has the advantage of being short and clear. The problem is that from a refugee rights perspective it is nonsensical, and therein lies yet another dilemma for anyone who wants to communicate clearly about a complex issue.

The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees defines a refugee as someone who is outside the country of her or his nationality owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. While in the succeeding decades fleeing conflict has become an accepted rationale for claiming international protection, flight from natural disasters has not. Thus, under international refugee law there can be no climate refugees.

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China: Death as business
11 Nov 2009 08:40:10 GMT
Author: Global Voices

ESWN puts together local reports and commentaries on the tragic case of three university students who died while trying save others. The tragedy involves a moral debate over the business of body retrievers.

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China: Protest against government “hook” by chopping little finger off
09 Nov 2009 15:34:48 GMT
Author: Global Voices

Xujun Eberlein from Inside-out China blogs about a 18-year-old man Sun Zhongjies act of chopping off his little finger off to protest against the Shanghai Traffic Management Bureaus hook on black taxi driver.

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Afghanistan: UN withdraws from Kabul?
08 Nov 2009 09:57:30 GMT
Author: Global Voices

Sailani says that in response to continuing threats to the foreign staff in Afghanistan, it now appears that a decision has been made to withdraw about six hundred UN international officers from Kabul.

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Afghanistan: Security deteriorates, says report
08 Nov 2009 09:41:40 GMT
Author: Global Voices

Nick Fielding reviews the most recent report on the security environment in Afghanistan, which says that the situation has deteriorated since 2005, affecting all aspects of the reconstruction operations.

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