Members of the German Green Party have proposed that so-called “climate refugees” should be allowed to move to the country and receive a German passport upon their arrival.
The proposal was championed by long-time Green politician Claudia Roth who said the passports should be made available for people in areas such as various Pacific islands, which she said could be threatened by climate change, German tabloid Bild reports.
How many “climate refugees” such a policy would cover is unclear, although the United Nations has previously claimed that there could be as many 25 million to over a billion people affected by climate change by the year 2050.
According to the Greens, the World Bank has put out the number of 140 million climate refugees by 2050 from just South Asia, South America, and Africa, all of which would theoretically be eligible for a German passport under the proposal.
The idea was roundly slammed by opposition party politicians such as North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Herbert Reul who noted that Germany currently faced problems from immigration relating to internal security.
EU Says Europe ‘Ideal Refuge’ for Migrants Fleeing ‘Poverty, Climate Change’ https://t.co/k7qOi3VRP2
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Linda Teuteberg of the libertarian Free Democratic Party (FDP) went even further, labelling the ideas a “state-guaranteed world rescue fantasy” and saying that Germany should not become the “Noah’s Ark of the world”.
Even left-wing Social Democrat Environment Minister Svenja Schulze expressed serious doubts, saying it was better to work for policies that made sure people did not have to leave their region in the first place.
Earlier this month, the United Nations blamed global mass migration on climate change, stating: “Climate change can also intensify conflicts as people compete for scarce resources.”
“When disasters interact with the effects of conflict and violence, some people fleeing in this context may become refugees,” they added.
The German Green proposal also comes just months after the EU Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) released a policy report stating: “Europe, due to its geographic position and its reputation as an example of stability, generosity, and openness against a background of growing international and internal conflicts, climate change, and global poverty, is likely to continue to represent an ideal refuge for asylum-seekers and migrants.”
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