Historically, population movements have always been a common form of adaptation to environmental change, but current patterns of population movements differ from those of the past mainly due to the fact that they are often anthropogenic in nature and, in recent years, natural disasters have become more frequent, increasing the number of people at risk of displacement due to climate change.
Particularly vulnerable are the inhabitants of small island states, especially those in the Pacific region, where for many years there have been warnings of a serious threat to the existence of some island states caused by rising sea levels, with the possibility that the impacts of climate change will make them uninhabitable in the future. For these reasons, cross-border migration is essentially the only realistic option for the people of this region if the most pessimistic scenarios are reached.
This master's thesis focuses on a review of regional and national policies to address migration in the context of climate change, with a closer look at the real options for people living in Pacific Island countries, where these issues have become part of the reality and not just a potential possibility.
The hypothesis of this master's thesis is:
»Most of the measures taken so far to address cross-border displacements in the context of climate change are based on the idea of temporary humanitarian assistance and the goodwill and solidarity of individual countries, rather than on thorough and elaborated national, regional or even international policies.«
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