Italiano

I disastri naturali che hanno causato migliaia di morti negli Stati Uniti, in Pakistan, Guatemala e Indonesia hanno anche lasciato migliaia e migliaia di persone senza tetto, senza casa, senza città . La stampa internazionale di lingua inglese ha usato il termine “rifugiati” per descrivere la condizione degli sfollati per tali disastri ambientali, richiamando nuovamente l’attenzione sull’opportunità di usare il termine rifugiato in riferimento a migrazioni dovute a catastrofi naturali. Nel mondo accademico il dibattito sulle implicazioni pratiche e giuridiche di tale approccio sono state discusse sin dal 1985, anno di pubblicazione dell’articolo di Essam El-Hinnaw intitolato ‘environmental refugee’. Esistono due scuole di pensiero principali sull’argomento. Coloro che pensano che non sia ne’ utile ne’ necessario usare il termine “environmental refugees” per descrivere le persone che migrano a causa di disastri ambientali. Altri che sostengono l’opinione opposta e concentrano i propri studi proprio su questo tema.
Io credo che questo dibattito sia interessante, utile ed abbia dei notevoli risvolti pratici al momento in cui tali problematiche devono essere affrontate concretamente. Qui ho voluto proporre una breve lista di articoli e siti dedicati all’ argomento.

English

The latest natural disasters in the US, Pakistan, Guatemala, Indonesia killed many people and left an extraordinary number of survivors behind coping with the distruction of their homes, villages, town and cities. Often the news referred to them as refugees rather than survivors or displaced people. They use of the word refugees for people who migrated because of natural disasters brings up a few questions. Since the publication of a paper by Essam El-Hinnawi in 1985 entitled ‘environmental refugee’, this term has been at the centre of an interesting debate around the consequences and legal implications of using the word “refugee” within the context of global climate change and natural disasters

Some scholars consider environmental degradation an important cause of migration, however, they find the definition of “environmental refugees” unuseful and unecessary, both from an intellectual and practical point of view. Others hold the opposite view and focus their attention and research specifically on the case of “environmental refugees”. I find the debate interesting and useful, here I decided to list a selection of relevant papers available on-line and websites.

Richard Black
Environmental refugees: myth or reality?
Working Paper No. 34 NEW ISSUES IN REFUGEE RESEARCH March 2001

Stephen Castles
Environmental change and forced migration: making sense of the debate.
Working Paper No. 70 NEW ISSUES IN REFUGEE RESEARCH October 2002

Stuart M. Leiderman
Environmental Response/Fourth World Project
“Environmental Refugees and Ecological Restoration”

UN Day for Disaster Reduction: Weds. Oct. 12
As Ranks of “Environmental Refugees� Swell Worldwide, Calls Grow for Better Definition, Recognition, Support

Norman Myers
ENVIRONMENTAL REFUGEES: AN EMERGENT SECURITY ISSUE
13th Economic Forum, Prague, 23-27 May 2005

Karla Hatrick
Flight from the Environment: A New Category of Refugees?

Anthony Oliver-Smith
Disasters and Forced Migration in the 21st Century

Institute for Environmental Security
Institute for Environmental Security

If you have new related links to suggest just let me know.