Introduction

Abstract

South Asia is a resevoir of civilizational diversity and legal pluralism that is conspicuous in its multi-layered identities of human existence in the eight nation-states consisting of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. South Asia has the distinction of having land-locked, littoral and lsland-nation-states that pose multiplicity of challeges in addressing the plight of climate change-induced human displacement and migration under the international climate change law (ICCL) and international refugee law (IRL). There is a global understanding that emerged in the political Declaration adopted on 19 September 2016 at New York on all migrants and refugees that still remains to be further negotiated in December 2018 under the UN auspices. Unfortunately, South Asian states have not acceded to the refugee law obligations despite the fact of the enormity of the climate change-driven crisis in the region. Moreover, these international legal regimes are flagrantly inadequate in addressing the overall protection requirements of the climate refugees. Further, there is neither legal and binding commitment to protect and provide safety and security to climate refugees nor there is any permanent lego-institutional framework to address the emergence of the climate change refugees or traditional humanitarian refugees in the region. In 1985, South Asian countries established a regional organization called South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) for developing the region into a new identity based on ‘South Asian-ness’ and ‘regional consciousness’ paradigms to galvanize international narratives for creating an equitable world order based on pluralism, cosmopolitanism and multiculturalism. It is in this conspectus, the instant book critically and cumulatively tries to examine protection and its thresholds afforded to climate refugees in South Asia under international legal standards and state practices of the SAARC countries.