COP27: The intersections of climate change, forced displacement, and human rights

Between November 6th and 18th, Egypt will host COP27, the 27th conference of theparties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, in SharmElSheikh. The conference will bring together leaders of governments of countries that are
signatories to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, politicians,
experts, civil society organizations, international organizations, journalists and activists todiscuss the goal of keeping temperature rises within 1.5 degrees Celsius, to avoid the worst
consequences of the climate crisis. In addition to the conference, the Egyptian government
launched the "National Climate Change Strategy in Egypt 2050" in order to reduce
emissions, deal with potential climate changes and survive climate disasters.1
Despite the fact that the African continent produces the least amount of carbon emissions ofany global region, it is the continent that is most affected by climate change. After centuries
of colonial plunder of the Global South, Africa is facing climate catastrophes for which it is
not entirely responsible. The continent pays the price of harmful emissions caused by large
industrial countries such as the US, the UK, and China. This is, as the U.N. special
rapporteur on extreme poverty, Philip Alston, said, “The rich [countries] are going to use theirwealth to try and seek safety, and literally leave the poor to burn”.2
There is no doubt that climate crises such as water scarcity, rising temperatures,
desertification, food shortages and rising sea levels will displace millions of people in the
coming years. In 2017, the European Commission conducted the most comprehensive
analysis of heatwave risks and found that tropical and subtropical Africa will be severely
affected, “The Gulf of Guinea, the Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, Angola and the
Democratic Republic of the Congo are expected to experience heat waves of 60 to 120 days
every two years. There will be heat waves longer than 180 days, once every 30 years, overparts of central Africa and the Arabian Peninsula." In East Africa and Yemen, theconsequences of climate crises have already caused humanitarian catastrophes: years ofdrought and wars caused by resource scarcity and food insecurity lead to thousands ofdeaths, malnourished children and starvation, and millions of internally and externallydisplaced persons.3
Displaced people from Yemen and East African countries are moving across borders, andsome are already arriving in Egypt, such as the displacement of Somalis due to the effects ofclimate change in past times and the displacement of more Sudanese towards Egypt due to
the Nile floods in recent years. This year alone, as of 5 September, Nile floods killed morethan 100 people, affected more than 278,500 people across Sudan, and displaced many
Sudanese internally and externally.4

1With $324 billion... Details of Egypt's climate change strategy 2050, 20 May 2022, Sky News Arabia“Climate Apartheid”, 29 Augusts 2022, Democracy Now / Africa: The least responsible, but mostvulnerable to climate change, 28 May 2018, DownToEarth3
Global Climate Risk Index 2021, 25 January 2021, Germanwatch
4
ACAPS Briefing Note - Sudan: Floods, 09 September 2022
2

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COP27: The intersections of climate change, forced displacement, and human rights

As of August 31, 2022, UNHCR
data in Egypt indicate that there are288,701 refugees registered. Half ofthese refugees are from Syria, and theother half are from East Africancountries, such as Eritrea, Somalia,
Ethiopia, South Sudan, and othernationalities. Egypt's strategic
geographical location makes it animportant point (as a receiving or transit
country) for people on the move inhumanitarian crisis situations in the
Middle East and North Africa region. It
has been an important destination for climate refugees in the past, now and in the future.5

According to the International
Organization for Migration, in
August 2022, the number ofinternational migrants living in
Egypt was estimated at 9 million.
This group consists of immigrants
from 133 countries, among them
the largest groups are Sudanese(4 million), Syrians (1.5 million),
Yemenis (one million) and Libyans(one million). These four
nationalities make up 80% of the international migrants currently residing in the country.6

Policies and Actions … Real solutions must be worked on now
Each year, natural disasters force nearly 21.5 million people to be displaced, both internallyand externally, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Scientists
predict that migration will increase as the planet warms. This year, the United Nations'Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported that over the next 30 years, 143
million people are likely to be displaced from their homes due to rising sea levels, droughts,
rising temperatures and other climate catastrophes.
Egypt is no exception, as rains and floods in March 2020 caused about 2,926 people toleave their homes, who were sheltered in 19 evacuation centers in Cairo, Giza, Beni Suefand Fayoum. The Ministry of Social Solidarity estimated the number of people affected by
the floods in the country at about 20 thousand people (4000 families). Climate-related floods
5

Monthly Statistical Report as of 31 August 2022, UNHCR Egypt
IOM Egypt estimates the current number of international migrants living in Egypt to 9 million people
originating from 133 countries, 7 Augusts 2022
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COP27: The intersections of climate change, forced displacement, and human rights

in the Nile Delta and the subsequent decline in agricultural production as well as
reduced employment opportunities in the agricultural sector, and a sea level rise of 0.5
metres could lead 2 to 4 million Egyptians into displacement by 2050, especially from thecoastal region to other regions.7
Currently, neither international law nor the domestic policies of most receiving countries
protect those who are forced into displacement due to climate change, a change affecting
their livelihood or safety, and are not entitled to protection under the 1951 Refugee
Convention and its 1967 Protocol. Many policy makers and country governments argue that
it is too early to consider this, but rapid climate change, data and living experiences suggest
otherwise.8
Migrants from countries such as Egypt and the rest of North Africa are also often seen as
economically driven, despite the fact that external migration in recent years has been linked
to climatic changes such as desertification and agricultural land erosion. For people in thesecountries, a decision to emigrate may seem better than a series of bad choices, even if it
involves taking dangerous boat trips across the Mediterranean and trying to cross fortified
European borders.9
Over the past months, the Egyptian authorities have been marketing themselves as anadministrative leader in supporting the developing world's adaptation to new climatechanges, but its policies and action speak differently. “I deeply believe that COP27 is an
opportunity to showcase unity against an existential threat that we can only overcome
through concerted action and effective implementation”, Egyptian President Abdel Fattahal-Sisi says in the opening message of the COP27 website.
Expectations cannot be raised too high, as Egypt does not appear to have any response
plan or readiness to receive potential “climate refugees” who may be displaced within Egypt,across the border from neighboring countries, or from Egypt to other countries. So far, Egypt
does not have domestic legislation that guarantees the implementation of international
obligations towards refugees, asylum seekers and migrants. In addition to the inability tomeet basic needs, Egypt has a track record of human rights violations against people on themove with the absence of protection conditions and guarantees of justice. These and moreare making climate justice elusive.

The rights of displaced people inside or across its borders in recent
years
While Egypt has received millions of international migrants, and hundreds of thousands ofasylum seekers in recent years, the absence of national legislation that regulates the lives ofrefugees and migrants, and subjecting their lives to security and administrative decisions
7

Egypt: Flash Floods Emergency Plan of Action (EPoA) Final Report DREF n° MDREG015, 23
January 2021, IFRC / Egypt Climate Change Profile, July 2018, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
8
How Can We Protect “Climate Refugees”?, 13 October 2022, Rice University's Baker Institutefor Public Policy
9
Climate Change and Migration in the Middle East and North Africa, Sep 29, 2022, Arab Center
Washington DC

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COP27: The intersections of climate change, forced displacement, and human rightsthat constantly change with the change of political will - it is impossible It provides
even a small amount of stability.
Moreover, the Egyptian authorities do not sufficiently abide by the international conventions
and treaties signed by them regarding human rights, especially the rights of the forcibly
displaced, as they force refugees to work without pay and subject them to torture and othercruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In light of the failure to provide
protection or means to achieve justice for the groups most vulnerable to violations of women,
unaccompanied migrant children and victims of human trafficking.
The Egyptian security forces have been arresting thousands of people annually at its
borders in mysterious practices, most of which involve arbitrary detention of men, womenand children in poor detention facilities, some of them unofficial, and in inhumane detention
conditions and without health or psychological care. Detained asylum-seekers are denied
access to the UNHCR, or to submit asylum requests. On top of that, the Egyptian authorities
forcibly deport asylum-seekers to countries where they fear they will be exposed to the riskof death, torture, disappearance, and forced labour.10
In addition, the state does not provide protection for its citizens from displacement due to
conflicts or possible climate change, but rather forcibly displaces them without warning andwithout options or real compensation, such as what happened in the displacement of
Nubians, Sinai residents, Maspero Triangle's residents, and residents of the historicalhouseboats in Cairo, as well as what It happens with the residents of Al-Warraq Island. For
example: “Between late 2013 and July 2020, the army destroyed at least 12,350 buildings,
mostly homes, most recently in the al-Arish area. The army has also razed, ruined, andclosed off approximately 6,000 hectares of farmland, mostly since mid-2016.” according to areport published by Human Rights Watch and the Sinai Foundation for Human Rights in
March 2021.11

On Al-Warraq Island, the peopleof the island have been engaged
in continuous battles with the statefor years. The state and its
security forces are forcibly evicting
them and forcing them to vacate
their homes and lands, in order toturn the island into a hugeinvestment project, despite thefact that many of them possess
papers proving ownership of thoselands and homes. Egypt justifies
the forced displacement of its
citizens with arguments such as
10

Facts Report: Arbitrary Detention and Forcible Deportation of Eritrean Asylum Seekers from Egypt,
8 August, 2022, Refugees Platform in Egypt (RPE) / EGYPT 2021 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT, UnitedStates Department of State • Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
11
Egypt: Massive Sinai Demolitions Likely War Crimes, 17 March 2021, Human Rights Watch

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COP27: The intersections of climate change, forced displacement, and human rights“eliminating slums”, “combating terrorism” and “preventing smuggling”. Numerous
reports found that house demolitions and displacement of people in the Sinai could havebeen avoided, and that population displacements in areas of high investment value wereillegal. The Egyptian authorities continue to practice all forms of forced displacement against
citizens, in violation of local and international laws.12
Article 63 of the 2014 Egyptian Constitution stipulates “the prohibition of arbitrary
displacement of citizens in all its forms and manifestations,” and violating this is considered a“crime with no statute of limitations”. International law also defines Humanitarian forced
displacement as “the forced and unlawful eviction of a group of individuals and populations
from the land on which they reside”.

Climate change cannot be separated from justice and human rights,
especially the rights of the most vulnerable
Working to reduce harmful emissions to the environment in the world is required, but it must
be done in a context that understands and takes into account human rights issues. The
United Nations Human Rights Council has recognized that climate change has a significant
impact on the full enjoyment of human rights. The council said the impact of climate change"poses an immediate and far-reaching threat to people and societies around the world". The
threat of climate change may also be used as a justification for violating civil and politicalrights such as freedom of expression and association, or adopting more restrictive policies
against the most vulnerable groups, in particular, groups such as refugees, migrants andasylum seekers, against whom all such violations are already taking place in Egypt.13

Effective participation in COP 27 in light of the Egyptian authorities'
suppression of freedoms
For many years, human rights defenders, individuals and groups, have faced unprecedented
and continuous systematic repression and security restrictions on their work, through asystem of new legislation criminalizing human rights and research work, coupled withsecurity threats, intimidation, arbitrary arrest, enforced disappearance, torture and judicial
harassment, unfair trials, arbitrary travel bans by official and unofficial decisions, andphysical attacks in public places. Also, the Egyptian authorities have frozen the assets ofleading human rights organizations, closed hundreds of charities, confiscated their property,
imposed laws that undermine freedom of association, banned foreign funding of independent
NGOs with a penalty that could lead to life imprisonment, and prosecuted and arrested
workers in NGOs, and restricting the freedom of information circulation, with blocking morethan 500 websites, including more than 100 news websites.14

12

Cairo evicts Nile island residents for development project, 27 Augusts 2022, Al-Monitor
Climate change, justice and human rights, 3 Augusts 2020, Amnesty International / Climate change
impacts enjoyment of human rights, 17 February 2015, The Office of the High Commissioner for
Human Rights
14
Egypt Crackdown on Civil Society, Human Rights Watch File
13

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COP27: The intersections of climate change, forced displacement, and human rights

In addition, defenders of the rights of refugees and migrants face double theviolations and restrictions, as they cannot register their activities and gatherings within theofficial framework set by the Egyptian authorities. They are faced with threats, arrests andforced deportations, and they are constantly intimidated by the security services to not speakout about the problems facing their communities or communicate with local and international
human rights organizations, and security instructions are issued to leaders of refugeecommunities to silence the voices of their communities and prevent people fromdemonstrating to express their anger. Also, the amendments to Law 82 of 2016 on
combating irregular migration, issued in April of this year, criminalize those who provide
services or assistance to irregular migrants.15
Therefore: the practices of the Egyptian authorities pose a very difficult challenge to civilsociety organizations, and local communities that wish to participate in COP 27, for fear of
reprisals. Effective participation in the conference is already restricted; The Egyptian
authorities deliberately “selected” the Egyptian NGOs allowed to register to participate in theconference, excluding most of the organizations that criticize the government, through asecret registration process and according to undisclosed selection criteria.16
At the same time, the registration for the Green Zone designated for demonstrations during
the COP 27 conference is restricted by complex entry restrictions and does not guarantee
the full right of participants to express their demands, as it is not available to all Egyptians, inaddition to strict security measures and restrictions in Sharm El-Sheikh, the host city of theconference. In Sharm El-Sheikh, denial of the right to freedom of movement for mostEgyptian citizens and placing surveillance cameras everywhere and recording devices intaxis, with the exponentially high cost of residency within the city during the conference
period, which residents, local activists, or groups working with refugees and asylum seekers
cannot afford.
Along with this, the extensive arrest campaigns documented by Egyptian human rights
organizations during the past weeks included arrests in the streets in Cairo and somegovernorates, and the appearance of some forcibly disappeared persons pending cases
before the Supreme State Security Prosecution against the backdrop of calling fordemonstrations during the climate conference period. 17
Even worse, the safety of activists coming from outside Egypt to attend the conference arealso at risk. On October 31, 2022, Egyptian security forces arrested Indian environmental
activist Ajit Rajagopal and his friend, human rights lawyer Makarios Lahzi, on a street in
El-Obour City, east of Cairo. He was on a260-kilometer walk to promote environmental
issues from Cairo to Suez, to reach the venue of the climate conference in Sharm El-Sheikh,
the authorities detained him for more than 24 hours on charges of not obtaining a security
permit to raise a protest sign. According to what Rajagopal told the media, "Egyptian security
15

Harsher Penalties and (Undocumented) Migration: Legal Crossroads and Everyday Problems, 19
March, 202, Refugees Platform in Egypt (RPE)16
COP27 and the Human Rights Crisis in Egypt, 28 Sept 2022, Cairo Institute for Human Rights
Studie17
Egypt: Human Rights Organizations Condemn the Expanded Campaigns of Repression and Arrests
Against the Back of Calls to Demonstrate in Conjunction with the Climate Summit “COP27”, 2
November 2022, The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights

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COP27: The intersections of climate change, forced displacement, and human rights

refrained from providing food and drink to Ajit for 27 hours and the police officer
videotaped him admitting that he was walking in the streets of Cairo holding a bannerwithout a permit," before he was released.18
All this is happening at a time when the Egyptian government has imposed strict measures
to prevent gatherings and demonstrations since 2013 with a legal cover. The use of the law
on organizing demonstrations and gatherings with the aim of suppressing freedom of opinionand expression. This law allows security forces to use excessive force to break up peacefulprotests and to imprison participants on loose accusations without evidence. It has led tothousands of arrests in recent years. The authorities also used it to suppress the attempts ofrefugees, asylum seekers and migrants to organize any events to express their opinions,such as what happened with Eritrean refugees in July 2019 and Sudanese refugees in
October 2020.19

Is lobbying for "loss and damage" financing a sufficient solution?
The countries of the Global South, which have suffered huge economic losses due to climate
disasters, demand compensation from countries responsible for economic activities harmful
to the environment and helped to steadily accelerate climate change across the globe. The
debate on “loss and damage” is now at the top of the COP27 agenda.
At COP 27 we need to work together to show leadership and move forward on addressing
this very important issue, particularly when it comes to finding a creative way to findfinancing for countries that are in extreme need to address the immediate losses anddamages that wipe out a significant part of their annual GDP," says Wael Abul-Magd, Egypt's
special representative of the summit, to Reuters. 20
The fact that the nations responsible for the greatest climate damage to our planet should
pay the most is fair, but it must be stressed that rich countries must stop their practices thatdeepen the climate crisis, and it must be emphasized that financing losses is not sufficient or
acceptable to escape accountability for crimes that pollute the environment.
Financing losses and damages cannot be separated from the important question: What isthe extent to which funding is ensured well to address the effects and damages of climatechange?, in the case of Egypt, and many countries suffer from massive human rights crises
along with climate change effects, especially in the absence of monitoring, accountability forcorrupt practices and human rights violations, and that Egyptian civil society is excluded
from active participation or can act independently without fear of being targeted andpersecuted.

18

Egyptian regime criticized as climate activist arrested in run-up to Cop27, 2 Nov 2022, The
Guardian
19
Egypt: New protest law gives security forces free rein, November 25, 2013, Amnesty International /Egyptian police have detained at least 40 Eritrean refugees during peaceful demonstration, July 21,
2019, Assenna / Egypt: Protests by Sudanese migrants and refugees over brutal killing of a child met
with violence and arrests, November 4, 2020, Amnesty International
20
Egypt working to prioritize 'loss and damage' at COP27, September 28, 2022, Reuters

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COP27: The intersections of climate change, forced displacement, and human rights

Recommendations
There is a lot that needs to be worked on in order to reach real climate justice and work on
climate change must be started in a deeper way from a human rights perspective andensuring the rights of all individuals, whether at the local, regional or international levels.
Therefore, the Refugees Platform in Egypt (RPE) recommends that
Governments of countries, international organizations, groups and activists
participating in COP27 should:
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Work to recognize climate refugees and their rights and start working on policies,
within international agreements and national legislation, to ensure that states arebound by their rights.
Raising the voices of those who were denied and prevented from participating, insideand outside the COP27 conference, and talking about the human rights crisis in
Egypt and the importance of addressing it.
Press the Egyptian authorities to respect their human rights obligations, toimmediately stop the systematic repression against citizens, migrants, and civilsociety organizations, and to respect the right of freedom of expression.
Request the release of all prisoners of conscience and human rights defenders
arbitrarily detained in Egypt.
Work on the existence of periodic review and independent monitoring of all previous
funding agreements and subsequent agreements with governments that commit
human rights violations, including Egypt, to ensure that human rights are not violated
through these agreements.

The Egyptian government must:
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Adhere to international and regional treaties and conventions related to human rights
and the rights of people on the move, and work to amend national laws to include
recognition of international and regional obligations imposed on Egypt.
End forced deportations of refugees and asylum seekers, immediately releaseasylum seekers detained for irregular migration, facilitate their access to asylum
procedures, and stop arbitrary arrests of asylum seekers.
Allow refugees and asylum seekers to move freely within the country without being
targeted or persecuted, and work on legislation that allows obtaining travel
documents for refugees within the Egyptian asylum system.
Immediately stop the forced displacement and dispossession of the population,
investigate previous forced evictions, and compensate those affected in a fair andequitable manner.
Stop criminalizing the work of defenders of the rights of people on the move and end
persecution and intimidation against them.
Lift the illegal blocking of blocked websites in Egypt, and stop imprisoning people incases of publication and expression.
Immediately and unconditionally release political prisoners and prisoners ofconscience from writers, researchers, activists, lawyers and human rights defenders
detained for their peaceful activism lift arbitrary travel bans, close all cases against
human rights defenders and drop all charges against them.

COP27: The intersections of climate change, forced displacement, and human rights

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Unfreezing the assets of civil society organizations, ensuring their workwithout harassment or security prosecution, and putting an end to intimidation andharassment of civil society workers.
Ensuring the freedom of expression and the right to demonstrate for citizens andnon-citizens during and after the conference, without restrictions or reprisals.
The release of people who were arrested during the past weeks in connection withcalls to demonstrate and the dropping of charges against them.