How to protect and assist Environmental Displaced Persons (EDPs)? A study about the gap in the UN refugee regime concerning EDPs and how to fill it

In today's world the protection gap in the 1951 Refugee Convention regarding the environmentally displaced persons (EDPs) has been discussed, claiming that EDPs international protection and assistance should be considered too. This thesis addresses the issue of displaced people due to environmental factors and the options that are suggested for their protection and assistance. With a starting point in the human security approach, it describes and criticises the gap in the UN refugee regime and examines the options to fill it. The first option is expanding the 1951 Refugee Convention to encompass EDPs as environmental refugees and the second one is creating a new and special international agreement which is all about the protection of EDPs. This study discusses the main arguments of these options and portrays the side effects of each claim. It illustrates the necessity to recognize the need to protect EDPs legally and physically through the exemplifications of sea level rise and Tuvalu. A justification to seek for an international resolution is demonstrated with the help of these illustrations. It also looks into the concept of “environmental refugees”