August 04, 2014

World first: climate refugees to stay in New Zealand

editor:	Vanessa Ellingham

The effects of climate change were factored into a decision to allow a Tuvalu family to stay in New Zealand in what is thought to be the world's first successful climate change migration case.

Sigeo Alesana and his family came to New Zealand in 2007 from Tuvalu, seeking asylum due to the rising sea levels around their home on the Polynesian island.

Their initial application for asylum was rejected by the immigration and deportation tribunal, but in this latest appeal they were finally granted the right to remain in New Zealand on humanitarian grounds due to their strong family and community connections to their new home.

One of the family's lawyers, Trevor Zohs, said the tribunal did acknowledge in their decision concerns about the vulnerability of the family's children to illnesses contracted due to poor water quality, which was being caused by climate change.

The New Zealand immigration authority previously rejected the asylum application of a subsistence farmer from Kiribati and appeared to be wary of setting a precedent for climate refugees.

This latest decision for the Alesana family leaves the fate of future climate refugees hanging in the balance, almost as if the authorities have found a way to support this family without setting a precedent outright.

Another family from Kiribati are currently fighting deportation in New Zealand on the grounds that rising sea levels are killing their crops, contaminating drinking water and flooding homes.