International Legal Protection of Environmental Migrants: Realities and Prospects

Abstract

The article deals with the problem of international legal protection of people affected by natural and man-made emergency situations that were forced to leave areas with a dangerous for life and health state of the environment. In the doctrine, the population transfer under similar circumstances is often referred to as environmental migration and affected and resettled persons are called environmental migrants. Since these concepts are absent in treaties, the issue of the need for the creation of a legal mechanism for regulating environmental migration as an integral part of the human security system with a sharp deterioration of the environmental situation is being explored. The article looks at the prospects for the formation of an organization at the international level to protect environmental migrants. It is concluded that it is necessary to create such an international organization for the protection of environmental migrants in the United Nations system, whose competence will simultaneously include such aspects of international law as the protection of human rights, migration, international cooperation in preventing and eliminating the consequences of natural and man-made emergency situations.