UN expert calls for action as Marshall Islands faces dual displacement crisis
31 October 2024
GENEVA (ILO News) – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs), Cecilia Jimenez-Damary, today called for urgent action to address the dual displacement crisis facing the people of the Marshall Islands.
The Marshall Islands, a low-lying archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, is facing the combined threats of climate change and nuclear contamination. Rising sea levels are eroding the islands’ coastlines and contaminating their water supplies, while the legacy of nuclear testing by the United States in the 1940s and 1950s continues to pose a health risk to the population.
As a result of these threats, the people of the Marshall Islands are being forced to leave their homes and seek refuge elsewhere. In recent years, there have been several cases of entire communities being relocated to other islands within the Marshall Islands, and there are fears that more displacement will be necessary in the future.
“The people of the Marshall Islands are facing a double displacement crisis,” said Jimenez-Damary. “They are being forced to leave their homes due to climate change and nuclear contamination, and they are often not able to return to their original communities.”
Jimenez-Damary said that the Marshall Islands government is doing its best to address the crisis, but it needs more support from the international community.
“The international community needs to provide financial and technical assistance to the Marshall Islands government to help it relocate its people and provide them with decent living conditions,” said Jimenez-Damary.
Jimenez-Damary also called on the United States government to take responsibility for the legacy of its nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands.
“The United States government needs to provide compensation to the people of the Marshall Islands for the harm that it has caused them,” said Jimenez-Damary. “It also needs to help the Marshall Islands government to clean up the contaminated areas and to ensure that the people of the Marshall Islands have access to safe drinking water and food.”
The Marshall Islands is not the only country facing a dual displacement crisis. Climate change and conflict are forcing millions of people around the world to leave their homes and seek refuge elsewhere.
“The international community needs to take action to address the root causes of displacement,” said Jimenez-Damary. “We need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and we need to resolve conflicts peacefully. We also need to provide support to countries that are hosting large numbers of displaced people.”
For more information and media requests, please contact:
Rolando Gómez, Media and Communications Officer, Special Procedures, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, rolando.gomez@un.org, Tel: +41 22 917 9711
Background:
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs) is an independent expert appointed by the Human Rights Council to help States prevent displacement, protect and assist internally displaced persons, and find durable solutions to their displacement. The current Special Rapporteur is Cecilia Jimenez-Damary, who took up her mandate on 1 May 2021.
The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures is the largest body of independent experts in the UN human rights system, addressing virtually all human rights topics. The experts work on voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.
For more information about the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of IDPs, please visit: www.ohchr.org/en/issues/idpersons/pages/idpersonsindex.aspx
UN expert calls for action as Marshall Islands faces dual displacement crisis
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