On April 22–23, 2021, President Biden hosted a virtual Leaders Summit on Climate to tackle the climate crisis and renew U.S. leadership on climate change. This piece summarizes topics at the Summit, with an emphasis on migration and displacement issues.
Expedited removal has been justified as a means to promote efficiency in asylum processing. Yet over the last decade, when large numbers of families have come to the border to seek refuge, expedited removal has proven extremely inefficient. A different reception system at the border is an essential component of a new, comprehensive, protection-oriented approach to migration from Central America.
As civil society, we believe in the comprehensive protection of civilians: the protection of civilians from conflict, the protection of civilians during conflict, and the protection of civilians in the devastating and often long aftermath of conflict. In a joint letter, 26 civil society groups call on the UN to take steps to further protect civilians in armed conflict.
Refugees International is deeply concerned by the renewed fighting between Israel and Hamas, including Israeli airstrikes in Gaza with grave implications for Palestinian civilians and indiscriminate Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli population centers.
On Earth Day 2021, Refugees International joined the Climate, Migration, and Displacement Platform to discuss how the Biden administration can center the needs and voices of frontline communities in its policies related to climate change and displacement. Here are four major recommendations from the perspective of frontline communities.
Drought affects 80 percent of Afghanistan’s territory. The government has drawn direct ties between the climate and the country’s economy, food security, and overall stability, so people displaced by climate change-related emergencies could slow Afghanistan’s growth and undermine efforts to reach a successful peace plan.
