Migration and displacement
People move across and within borders because of conflict, persecution, disasters, climate change and the search for a livelihood. Their protection rests on a patchwork: refugee law, human rights law, regional conventions on internal displacement, two global compacts and a growing set of bilateral mobility arrangements. This page sets out how states and institutions cooperate on human mobility in a conflict-sensitive way, how displacement is counted, and where the law and the evidence leave gaps.
- 01In briefThe short answer
- 02The questionMigration and displacement: how the risk develops
- 03Key termsTerms used on this page
- 04IndicatorsWhat is measured, and how well
- 05CanvasFrom sources to decisions
- 06SourcesWhere the evidence comes from
- 07DecisionsWho decides, and what the evidence serves
GRF · Established · service level R0
The short answer.
Climate migration is movement of people driven in part by climate-related hazards and change, from sudden disasters to slow-onset drought and sea-level rise. Protection rests on a patchwork of refugee law, human rights law, regional conventions on internal displacement and two global compacts, leaving gaps for people displaced across borders by disasters.
People and services in Europe.
Where people live and how far each division sits from a large city's services, shown for Europe as an example geography for this subject.
Negotiation track desk, in outline.
The working screen behind this subject: its structure, terms and states. Names are placeholders and values illustrative.
Negotiation track desk
Migration and displacement · Shared basin dialogue · Round 5
Track
- Conveneparties
- Fact-findingjoint
- Optionsshared
- Draft textbrackets
- Agreementparties decide
- Implementmonitor
Draft text, articles
| Art. 3 | Data exchange | 1 | Agreed ad ref |
| Art. 5 | Low-flow sharing | 7 | Open |
| Art. 7 | Notification of works | 4 | Open |
| Art. 9 | Dispute avoidance | 4 | Not discussed |
Facilitator note
- Next round
- week 5
- Format
- closed, non-attribution
- Decision
- parties only
- GRF role
- convenes, records
Migration and displacement: how the risk develops.
Institutional cooperation and conflict-sensitive human mobility. The dossier below sets out how the risk develops, what is measured, where the data come from, how it is modelled and who decides.
Sudden and slow drivers
Floods and storms displace people suddenly and often temporarily; drought, sea-level rise and land degradation act slowly and mix with economic motives. The distinction shapes which protection applies and how governments plan for relocation.
Protection gaps
People displaced across borders by disasters or climate change are generally not refugees under the Refugee Convention unless persecution is also present. Human rights law, including non-refoulement, temporary protection and humanitarian visas, fills part of the gap.
Internal displacement
Most displaced people never cross a border. The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement and, in Africa, the Kampala Convention set out the duties of states toward them, which national law and institutions must then implement.
Shared responsibility
Hosting falls unevenly on neighbouring states. The Global Compact on Refugees and the Global Compact for Migration offer frameworks for sharing responsibility that depend on voluntary pledges, regional arrangements and the willingness of states to report.
Terms used on this page.
Each term as this page uses it. Where a standard-setting body defines the term, the wording follows that body.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Internally displaced person | A person forced to flee who remains within their own country's borders. |
| Non-refoulement | The principle that no one may be returned to a place where they face persecution or serious harm. |
| Climate refugee | A widely used term with no legal status: the Refugee Convention covers persecution, not climate or disasters as such. |
What is measured, and how well.
Each indicator carries its unit, its cadence, the kind of source behind it and the evidence label a value would carry. No values are shown: a programme supplies them under its own authority.
| Indicator | Unit | Cadence | Source type | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Refugees and asylum seekers by country of asylum and origin | persons | semi-annual and annual | UNHCR statistics | OFFICIAL |
| Internal displacements by conflict and by disasters | movements per year | annual | IDMC displacement records | ESTIMATED |
| Internally displaced persons at assessed sites | persons per site | per assessment round | IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix | ESTIMATED |
| Deaths and disappearances of people on the move | recorded cases | continuous | IOM Missing Migrants Project | REPORTED |
| States party to the Kampala Convention | count of states | continuous | African Union treaty records | OFFICIAL |
| Voluntary national reviews of the Global Compact for Migration | count of states reporting | per review cycle | International Migration Review Forum records | REPORTED |
| Mobility and planned relocation arrangements linked to climate | count of arrangements | continuous | Government and treaty records | OFFICIAL |
From sources to decisions.
The topic as a computational graph: named sources feed the methods, an evidence review gates the outputs, and the decisions stay with the authorities that hold them.
Fig. 02Nodes carry their type, two metric rows and a state; connectors show what feeds what; dashed frames name the owners; the timeline is the cadence. Design of the pipeline, not a record of a run.
Where the evidence comes from.
Named public datasets and institutional records, each with its licence class. Sources by agreement are used only under their terms and never republished.
| Source | What it gives | Licence class |
|---|---|---|
| UNHCR Refugee Data Finder | Refugees, asylum seekers, stateless people and internally displaced persons | Free and open, CC BY 4.0 |
| IDMC Global Internal Displacement Database | Internal displacements and displaced populations by conflict and disasters | Free, attribution and terms of use |
| IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix | Site and mobility assessments in crises | Licence per dataset, often published on HDX |
| IOM Missing Migrants Project | Recorded deaths and disappearances during migration | Free, attribution |
| African Union treaty records | Status of the Kampala Convention and related instruments | Public records |
| Platform on Disaster Displacement records | Effective practice on cross-border disaster displacement under the Protection Agenda | Free to read, terms of use |
| UN Treaty Collection | Status of the Refugee Convention, its Protocol and the human rights treaties | Public records, UN terms of use |
Who decides, and what the evidence serves.
Diplomacy Nexus prepares evidence. The decisions below are taken by the authorities named, under their own rules, and never by the platform.
| Who decides | The question | Evidence this page serves |
|---|---|---|
| Interior and foreign ministries | Whether to offer temporary protection or humanitarian visas to people displaced by disasters | Comparative practice, the Protection Agenda, the human rights obligations that apply |
| National authorities responsible for internal displacement | How to implement the Guiding Principles and plan durable solutions or relocation | The Kampala Convention and national law, displacement estimates with their labels |
| UNHCR, IOM and regional bodies | How to coordinate protection and assistance where refugees and migrants move together | The mandate of each agency, regional arrangements, the displacement record |
| Regional organisations | Whether to negotiate free-movement or disaster displacement protocols | Existing regional instruments, practice in comparable regions |
Outputs this topic produces
- Guides to the legal frameworks that apply to each form of displacement
- Comparative records of regional and bilateral mobility arrangements
- Conflict-sensitive dialogue records between host, origin and transit states
- Reviews of how displacement estimates are produced and where they diverge
What practitioners and scholars ask.
- How do climate change and disasters affect where and how people move?
- What protections apply to people displaced across borders by disasters?
- How can countries cooperate on mobility in ways that respect rights and reduce risk?
- How do host communities and displaced people interact over time?
- How can data on mobility be collected and used responsibly?
What drives mobility and displacement.
Disasters displace large numbers of people each year, mostly within their own countries and often temporarily. Slow-onset changes such as drought, sea-level rise and land degradation can contribute to longer-term migration, usually in combination with economic, social and political factors. Research cautions against simple projections of climate migrants, since mobility depends on many conditions and the poorest may be unable to move.
International protection frameworks differ by situation. Refugee law protects people fleeing persecution; people displaced by disasters across borders may fall outside it, relying instead on national measures and regional arrangements. Internal displacement is governed by national law, with guiding principles at international level.
Mobility can be a form of adaptation, providing income and reducing exposure, but can also create vulnerability. Policies affect whether movement is safe and orderly.
How the platform approaches the subject.
- 01
Evidence review
Examining research on environmental change and mobility. Data on migration drivers are limited and contested.
- 02
Institutional comparison
Comparing national and regional approaches, using policy science.
- 03
Conflict-sensitive analysis
Understanding how mobility interacts with tensions in host areas.
- 04
Structured dialogue
Convening practitioners and institutions under safeguards protecting displaced people.
The platform does not provide legal advice to individuals and does not collect personal data on migrants or displaced people.
How it is studied, and what the methods cannot say.
- Policy, institutional and decision scienceComparative treaty analysis · Mandate and institutional mapping · Implementation reviewApplied here
- Hydrology and water scienceJoint basin water accounts · Testing allocation rules against droughtApplied here
- Ocean and coastal scienceSea-level rise and maritime zones · Shared stocks and fisheries bodiesApplied here
- Game theory and mechanism designBenefit sharing in a shared basin · Coalitions in climate agreementsApplied here
Questions and answers.
Are there climate refugees?
Why do displacement figures differ between sources?
What is non-refoulement?
Does the platform estimate future climate migration?
Can individuals get help with their migration case?
Are displaced people included in dialogues?
Who can join the Migration and Displacement Governance chapter?
Around Diplomacy Nexus.
Bring your expertise to this field.
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