We united the climate and migrant justice movements for Refugee Week. With 18 organisations and 8 impactful collaborations, we reached hundreds of thousands of people.
More than a dozen climate groups shared their platforms to support migrant justice, highlighting the campaigns and voices of migrant groups. This unity demonstrated why it’s essential for our movements to stand together.
People have always moved, but as the climate crisis intensifies, marginalised communities globally face greater impacts, often forcing people to leave their homes. Meanwhile, the global north profits from expanding racist border policies. Climate justice must demand migrant justice. We must fight for the right to stay and ensure safe pathways for those who must move.
“Let us pause for a moment to commemorate Refugee Week. As we honor the strength and resilience of refugees worldwide, we must confront a growing crisis, the plight of climate refugees. While climate policies project preparedness, they fall remarkably short in offering robust legal recognition and protections to those facing climate crises and the desperate need to move. This absence of a specific legally defined framework poses insurmountable hurdles for individuals seeking refuge from climate change impacts.”
“Climate change is now one of the greatest drivers of poverty and hunger, pushing 45 million people worldwide to the brink of famine, including almost 21 million children. About 1 billion children—nearly one in two—are living in countries at extremely high risk of climate change and environmental hazards such as violent storms, droughts, and floods. Communities around the world are crying out as unreliable seasons, droughts, and floods increasingly devastate their lives. Land degradation affects 3.2 billion people, while over 160 million children are in areas of severe drought. Without decisive action, these crises will only intensify, and the hunger crisis will worsen.”
“Young people around the globe are anxious about their future, and rightfully so. Yet a distorted focus on the future suggests that the world prioritizes the future of white children over the present of Black, Brown, and Indigenous children. If this continues, then we have already lost. The climate crisis affects everyone, but the children in the most vulnerable communities bear the brunt of its impacts, despite being the least responsible for it.”
“This Refugee Week, let us not forget those forced to flee their homes due to climate change. Let us channel our empathy into action, advocating for stronger legal frameworks and protections for climate refugees. Their lives and futures depend on our willingness to acknowledge their plight and act with urgency and compassion. Let us ensure that no one is left behind in the face of this global crisis.”
Ayebare Denise – Uganda
Find more campaigns, voices and resources from our Refugee Week collaborations by searching on the hashtag #WeFightTogether on social media!