Human Rights Watch has submitted an amicus curiae to the African Court on Human and Peoples’Rights, advocating for the protection of displaced communities affected by climate change. The submission highlights the plight of displaced fishing families in Saint-Louis, Senegal, who were relocated to Khar Yalla after coastal flooding in 2015-2016. The research, based on interviews with 101 individuals, reveals that the Senegalese government’s inaction violated the displaced families’economic, social, and cultural rights.
Khar Yalla, an unsuitable site for permanent living, lacks essential services and has led to severe overcrowding, health concerns, and limited access to education and employment opportunities. Human Rights Watch calls for the African Court to clarify states’obligations under the African Charter to address the human rights impacts of climate change, including through meaningful consultation, non-discrimination, and the provision of adequate housing and services.
The case study of Khar Yalla underscores the need for national policies to protect the rights of people undergoing displacement and planned relocations. Human Rights Watch emphasizes that planned relocation should not come at the expense of human rights protection, and that states must uphold their obligations under international human rights law, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The organization also calls on high-income states to provide financial and technical support to low-income countries like Senegal for durable solutions to climate displacement and human rights-respecting adaptation measures.
The submission argues that states have binding obligations under the African Charter to address the human rights impacts of climate change, including those arising from adaptation measures such as planned relocation. The African Charter requires states to take reasonable and effective measures to prevent environmental harms that threaten life, health, and human dignity. In the context of climate change, this entails ensuring that climate adaptation policies, including planned relocation, comply with human rights standards.
Human Rights Watch hopes that its analysis will assist the African Court in defining the obligations of States with respect to internal displacement and planned relocation in the context of the climate change crisis, including to advance adaptation, climate justice, and access to climate finance.
Source: Human Rights Watch
