Relevant law:

PRIMARY - 2016 - ILC Draft Articles on the Protection of Persons in the Event of
Disaster.pdf
PRIMARY - Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction - 2015-2030.pdf

Case-law:

Syllabus:
Excellent blog post summarising the disconnect between what is needed and what is
happening re climate mobility
Optional - useful for exam revision - McAdam Chapter 4: State Practice on Protection
from Disasters and Related Harms
Optional - 2018 - also useful for revision - techniques in international law making and
the international law of disaster relief.pdf
Optional - interview by Miriam with Robin Bronen (Alaska) short version_2.mp4
(discussed in class)
Optional - Bronen - Lessons from Alaska (originally posted in and also relevant to
internal displacement class).pdf
Optional - Cooper - the social construction of disaster.pdf
Optional - relevant to online learning - Words into Action Developing National Disaster
Risk Reduction Strategies.pdf
Optional - Ben F-H New Zealands Proposed Climate Adaptation Act Recording.mp4
Search "disaster displacement" for an online course on responding to and preparing for
disaster including through law and policy (as emailed)
Optional: Podcast. Pacific perspectives on planned relocation (planning and
preparedness)
Husk at kigge i Kristian Lauta’s bog diaster law.
https://legal.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/commentaries/6_3_2016.pdf
Commentaries to the draft articles.

Powerpoint by Miriam:
20211125 - disaster law - lecture slides.pdf

Analysis:
“Disaster” versus “hazards”
UNDP “hazards are natural events, occurring more or less frequently and of a greater or
lesser magnitude, but disasters are due to risk-blind development”

What is a ”disaster” under international law?

There is no internationally agreed definition. Examples:
Disaster means a serious disruption of the functioning of society, posing a significant,
widespread threat to human life, health, property or the environment, whether caused by
accident, nature or human activity, and whether developing suddenly or as the result of
complex, long-term processes
Art 1 Tampere Convention on the Provision of Communications for Disaster
Mitigation and Relief Operations (1998, entered into force 2005)

“Disaster” means a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society

causing widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses.
Art 1(3) ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response
? What are the common elements?

Disaster law: International Law Commission’s Draft Articles

ILC Draft Articles on the Protection of People in the Event of Disasters (2016)
Disaster “a calamitous event or series of events resulting in widespread loss of life, great
human suffering and distress, mass displacement, or large-scale material or environmental
damage, thereby seriously disrupting the functioning of society”
• ? What is the fundamental difference between the previous two definitions and this one?

Reminder...where have we heard this before?

OAU Convention Governing Specific Aspects of the Refugee Problems in Africa
The term “refugee” shall also apply to every person who, owing to ... events seriously
disturbing public order in either part or the whole of his country of origin ... is compelled to
leave his place of habitual residence in order to seek refuge in another place outside his
country of origin or nationality. (Art 1(2))

Cartagena Declaration on Refugees

...the definition or concept of a refugee ...includes among refugees persons who have fled
their country because their lives, safety or freedom have been threatened by...other
circumstances which have seriously disturbed public order.

Special Rights in the Context of Disaster Displacement: Children

African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
Art 23(4) ”refugee children”: states have to ensure that displaced children receive appropriate
protection and assistance. Whether they are displaced by natural disasters, armed conflict,
social disorder or “however caused”.

CROC
Art 20 – A child temporarily deprived of his family environment shall be entitled to special
protection and assistance
Art 22 (1) protection of child’s rights when seeking refugee status, even under regional or
national law
(2) States shall provide cooperation in any efforts by IGOs or NGOs or the UN to protect and
assist such a child to trace their family

Special rights in the context of disaster displacement: People with Disabilities

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2006
Art 11 – states have a responsiblity to ensure the protection and safety of persons with
disabilities in situations of risk including humanitarian emergencies and natural disasters

OHCHR study on Article 11 (with state consultation) set standards on the meaning of this
right which include:
- National emergency plans should be adapted to make them inclusive of and accessible to
people with disabilities
- The safety of children with disabilities should be prioritised
- ”Build back better” for people with disabilities (from Sendai Framework Guiding
Principles, Art 19(k)

Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030

Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015- 2030 aims to reduce the risk and
impacts of disaster. Four priorities:
1. Understanding disaster risk
2. Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk
3. Investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience
4. Enhancing disaster preparedness... to “build back better” in recovery, rehab and
reconstruction
Monitored by the UN Office on Disaster Risk Reduction

Sendai Framework
Sets 7 global targets including
Target (B) “Substantially reduce the number of affected people globally by 2030”. Directly
affected: “those who have suffered injury, illness or other health effects; ...were evacuated,
displaced, relocated or have suffered direct damage to their livelihoods, economic, physical,
social, cultural and environmental assets”
- definition from UNGA “Report of the Open-Ended Intergovernmental Working
Group on Indicators and Terminology related to Disaster Risk Reduction’ p 11 read
with para 18 of the Sendai Framework

Establishes 13 Guiding principles (para 19)

(c) Managing the risk of disasters is aimed at protecting persons,
their health, property etc while protecting human rights (k) “Building back better”

Sendai Framework for DRR

Priorities for Action Priority 1: Understanding disaster risk.
Priority 2: Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk.
Priority 3: Investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience.
Priority 4: Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response and to “Build Back Better”
in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction

Sendai Framework for DRR

Priority 2: Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk. To achieve this it
is important:

27(k) – To formulate public policies, where applicable, aimed at addressing the issues of
prevention or relocation... of human settlements in disaster risk-prone zones
28(d) To promote transboundary cooperation to enable policy and planning ...ecosystem-
based approaches with regard to shared resources, such as within river basins and along
coastlines, to ...reduce disaster risk, including ...displacement risk;

Sendai Framework (continued)

Priority 4: Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response and to “Build Back Better”
in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction

33(h) – “To promote regular disaster preparedness, response and recovery exercises,
including evacuation drills...with a view to ensuring rapid and effective response to disasters
and related displacement, including access to safe shelter, essential food ...;”

33(j) – “To promote the incorporation of disaster risk management into post-disaster recovery
... to develop capacities that reduce disaster risk in the short, medium and long term,
including through the development of measures such as land-use planning.... This should also
apply to temporary settlements for persons displaced by disasters;

Implementing Sendai: Fiji and Vanuatu

Both states have adopted guidelines for planned relocation and managed retreat
Important factors:
• Who decides whether you should move must be made clear
• Scale and scope of relocation
• Planning and preparation: allocate time and incorporate the cost
(Listen to podcast in the resources for today’s class on absalon, especially from about 17.22
to hear about the lessons they have learned)

“Words into Action” – from the Platform on Disaster Displacement

The Sendai Framework recognises for the first time displacement impacts of disasters as
something that should be a part of disaster risk reduction

Platform on Disaster Displacement “Words into Action” aims to further the Sendai
Framework in terms of offering modalities in relation to disaster displacement for the
periodic review of the implementation of the Sendai Framework
Words into Action
Identifies ways to strengthen protections for people displaced through DRR under all 4 of the
Sendai Framework Priorities for Action
Offers practical guidance to help Government authorities integrate disaster displacement and
other related forms of human mobility into regional, national, sub-national and local DRR
strategies

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction Monitors Sendai and offers some useful
definitions:
• Disaster “a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society at any scale
due to hazardous events interacting with conditions of exposure, vulnerability and capacity,
leading to one or more of the following: human, material, economic and environmental losses
and impacts.”

• Slow-onset disaster - emerges gradually over time. Slow-onset disasters could be associated
with, e.g., drought, desertification, sea- level rise, epidemic disease.

• Sudden-onset disaster - triggered by a hazardous event that emerges quickly or

unexpectedly. Sudden-onset disasters could be associated with, e.g., earthquake, volcanic
eruption, flash flood, chemical explosion, critical infrastructure failure, transport accident

• Small-scale disaster: a type of disaster only affecting local communities which require
assistance beyond the affected community.

• Large-scale disaster: a type of disaster affecting a society which requires national or

international assistance.

Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration 2018 (GCM)
Objective 2: Minimize the adverse drivers and structural factors that compel people to leave
their country of origin
To realize this commitment, we will draw from the following actions:
(a) Promote the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including
the Sustainable Development Goals and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, and the
commitment to reach the furthest behind first, as well as the Paris Agreement and the Sendai
Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030;
(b) Invest in DRR
(g) disaster preparedness

GCM [Objective 2: continued from prev slide]

Objective 2: Minimize the adverse drivers and structural factors that compel people to leave
their country of origin
To realize this commitment, we will draw from the following actions:
Subheading: “Natural disasters, the adverse effects of climate change, and environmental
degradation
(h) Better map, understand, predict and address migration from “natural disasters” and “the
adverse effects of climate change”
(i) Develop adaptation and resilience strategies
(j) Integrate displacement into preparedness plans
(k) Harmonize and develop approaches at regional and subregional levels to ensure
humanitarian assistance that meets essential needs and human rights

GCM Objective 5
Objective 5: We commit to adapt options and pathways for regular migration ... [in a way
that]... responds to the needs of migrants in a situation of vulnerability... To realize this
commitment we will:

(g) Develop or build on existing national and regional practices for admission and stay of
appropriate duration based on compassionate, humanitarian or other considerations for
migrants compelled to leave their countries of origin owing to sudden-onset natural disasters
and other precarious situations, such as by providing humanitarian visas, private
sponsorships, access to education for children, and temporary work permits, while adaptation
in or return to their country of origin is not possible;

GCM [Objective 5: continued from prev slide]

Objective 5: We commit to adapt options and pathways for regular migration ... [in a way
that]... responds to the needs of migrants in a situation of vulnerability... To realize this
commitment we will:
(h) Cooperate to identify, develop and strengthen solutions for migrants compelled to leave
their countries of origin owing to slow-onset natural disasters, the adverse effects of climate
change, and environmental degradation, such as desertification, land degradation, drought
and sea level rise, including by devising planned relocation and visa options, in cases where
adaptation in or return to their country of origin is not possible;
• First formal recognition of regular migration as a response to disaster

ILC Draft Articles on the Protection of Persons in the Event of Disaster (2016)
Preamble
Bearing in mind Article 13, paragraph 1 (a), of the Charter of the United Nations, which
provides that the General Assembly shall initiate studies and make recommendations for the
purpose of encouraging the progressive development of international law and its codification,
Considering the frequency and severity of natural and human-made disasters and their short-
term and long-term damaging impact,
Fully aware of the essential needs of persons affected by disasters, and conscious that the
rights of those persons must be respected in such circumstances,
Mindful of the fundamental value of solidarity in international relations and the importance
of strengthening international cooperation in respect of all phases of a disaster,
Stressing the principle of the sovereignty ...

International Law Commission’s Draft Articles

SCOPE
Article 1: The present draft articles apply to the protection of persons in the event of disasters
It sets the orientation of the draft articles as being primarily focused on the protection of
persons whose life, well-being and property are affected by disasters. The Draft Articles
would (if adopted) regulate:
• The rights and obligations of states affected by disaster in respect of persons present in their
territory (irrespective of nationality) or in territory under their jurisdiction or control
• and the rights and obligations of third States and IGOs and NGOs and other entities in a
position to cooperate, particularly in the provision of disaster relief assistance as well as in
the reduction of disaster risk
• Also deals with both (1) the rights and obligations of States in relation to one another and
(2) the rights and obligations of States in relation to persons in need of protection
International Law Commission’s Draft Articles
DEFINITIONS
Article 3: “disaster” means a calamitous event or series of events resulting in widespread loss
of life, great human suffering and distress, mass displacement, or large-scale material or
environmental damage, thereby seriously disrupting the functioning of society;
Thus 3 requirements for the articles to have effect
1. calamitous event or series of events resulting in
2. Any one or more of the following:
- widespread loss of life
- great human suffering and distress
- mass displacement
- large-scale material or environmental damage
3. thereby seriously disrupting the functioning of society

ILC Draft Articles: DRR

DISASTER RISK REDUCTION
Article 9
1. Each State shall reduce the risk of disasters by taking appropriate measures, including
through legislation and regulations, to prevent, mitigate, and prepare for disasters.
2. Disaster risk reduction measures include the conduct of risk assessments, the collection
and dissemination of risk and past loss information, and the installation and operation of early
warning systems.
Based partly on Sendai Framework para 19(a) “each State has the primary responsibility to
prevent and reduce disaster risk, including through international, regional, subregional,
transboundary and bilateral cooperation”

ILC Draft Articles: Protections

Art 4-5 – Protection of human dignity and human rights
Art 10-11 - Affected state has duty to protect its citizens and ask for help
Art 12 - states and other “potential assisting actors” can offer assistance
Art 13 – states and other actors can provide assistance with the consent of the affected state
“consent to external assistance shall not be withheld arbitrarily” (Art 13(2))
Art 16 – states must provide protection of relief personnel
Which international organizations have a role in responding to disaster?
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (will usually take the coordination
lead)
International Federation of the Red Cross World Food Program
UNICEF
Doctors Without Borders
Many religious based / inspired organizations
For displaced people
UN High Commissioner for Refugees
International Organization for Migration
Danish Refugee Council / Norwegian Refugee Council

International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC)

Guidelines for the domestic facilitation and regulation of international disaster relief and
initial recovery assistance (IDRL Guidelines)
Gives governments guidelines for policies they can have in place to enhance the efficient
receipt and distribution of aid in the event of disaster: Issues might include:
• Visas, customs, clearance
• Overflight and landing permission
• Coordination of the relief effort generally (the responsibilities of aid agencies can become
almost governmental)