15 May 2015, Apia, Samoa, PCCR - A European-initiative that looks into the plight of people displaced by natural disasters and the effects of climate change is proposing seasonal workers schemes as one of the adaptation options.
The Nansen Initiative says consultation in the Pacific indicates that while leaving one's country is the least preferred option, research recognises voluntary migration of a temporary nature could assist individuals generate income through a seasonal workers programme to build their resilience and reduce ones exposure to extreme climatic conditions.
It has apparently picked up on a call by the President of Kiribati Anote Tong who believes that increased labour migration to other countries will allow family members to support their extended family by sending remittances back to their home country.
Another donor-funded project on migration called the Pacific Climate Change and Migration (PCCM) Project is considering a job apprenticeship schemes in Australia for young workers in Kiribati, and a possible visa free entry for Tuvalu workers in yet-to-be approached Pacific-rim countries.
This PCCM is a three-year project that is funded by the European Union and implemented in the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The Nansen Initiative on the other hand is a consultative process that the governments of Norway and Switzerland founded in December 2011 to address the needs of people displaced across borders in the context of natural disasters including the effects of climate change.
Fridtjof Nansen was a renowned Norwegian scientist, Arctic explorer, diplomat and the first High Commissioner for Refugees.
Members of the Initiative's steering group are Australia, Bangladesh, Costa Rica, Germany, Kenya, Mexico, Norway, Philippines and Switzerland and its work in the Pacific included the countries of the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati and some interests from the Marshall Islands.
The Initiatives says that while displacement of people had occurred in a small scale around the Pacific, this process is expected to increase in the future. To date, these displacements tend to happen within country and not across borders.
Nanumea island after Tropical Cyclone Pam, 2015 image from Fenui News Facebook page
"For example, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs released a situational report on Tuvalu, on the impacts from Tropical Cyclone Pam in March.
71 families from the island of Nui were displaced from Tropical Cyclone Pam were living in three shelter buildings and with other families.
60 per cent of permanent buildings flooded due to storm surge which also left homes destroyed, in the island of Nukufetau 76 people were displaced also, so it places a very real concern of the measure required in order to adapt and the current losses endured.
The February 2013 earthquake and tsunami in the Solomon Islands displaced an estimated 2400 people, with some 1,670 people seeking shelter in 11 camps," says the Nansen Initiative.
"In 2009, a tsunami hit Samoa, displacing some 5,000 people who fled to higher ground.
"Volcanic eruptions prompted government authorities to evacuate some 400 people on Gaua Island, Vanuatu in 2009. In Papua New Guinea, a 2004 volcanic eruption on Manam Island displaced some 10,000 people, many for whom are still displaced despite government efforts to find a durable solution."
The Nansen Initiative coordinated a side event during the Pacific Climate Change Roundtable in Apia.
The Pacific Climate Change Roundtable is held from 12 – 14 May in Apia, Samoa. The event in its current format has been held since 2008 on a biannual basis coordinated by SPREP in partnership with others and is coordinated by SPREP with the guidance from a steering committee.
The PCCR has been made possible with support from the Government of Switzerland, Government of Samoa, Government of Australia, European Union, GIZ, United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS), University of the South Pacific (USP) and the Pacific Council of Churches (PCC). Additional funding support was provided by the EU-GIZ Adapting to Climate Change and Sustainable Energy (ACSE) Programme, and Climate Analytics through its High Level Support Mechanism (HLSM) project as well as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).Samisoni Pareti/SPREP/#pccr2015
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