Air pollution does not respect national boundaries and environmental degradation will lead to mass migration in the future, said a leading barrister in the wake of a landmark migration ruling, as experts warned that government action must be taken as a matter of urgency.
在一次里程碑式的移民裁决后,一位顶级律师表示,空气污染不受国界限制,环境恶化将在未来导致大规模移民。专家警告称,事态紧急,政府必须采取行动。
Sailesh Mehta, a barrister specialising in environmental cases, said: "The link between migration and environmental degradation is clear. As global warming makes parts of our planet uninhabitable, mass migration will become the norm. Air and water pollution do not respect national boundaries. We can stop a humanitarian and political crisis from becoming an existential one. But our leaders must act now."
专门处理环境案件的律师塞利斯·梅塔说:“移民和环境恶化之间的关联很明显。随着全球变暖导致地球上的一些地区变得不适宜居住,大规模移民将成为常态。空气和水污染不受国界限制。我们可以阻止人文和政治危机威胁个人生存。但我们的领导人现在必须行动起来。”
He added: "We have a right to breathe clean air. Governments and courts are beginning to recognise this fundamental human right. The problem is not just that of Bangladesh and the developing world. Air pollution contributes to around 200,000 deaths a year in the UK. One in four deaths worldwide can be linked to pollution."
他补充道:“我们有呼吸干净空气的权利。政府和法院正开始意识到这一基本人权。问题不只存在于孟加拉和发展中国家。空气污染每年导致英国约20万人死亡。全球四分之一的死亡与污染有关。”
The comments follow a decision by a French court this week, which is believed to be the first time environment was cited by a court in an extradition hearing. The case involved a Bangladeshi man with asthma who avoided deportation from France after his lawyer argued that he risked a severe deterioration in his condition, and possibly premature death, due to the dangerous levels of pollution in his homeland.
梅塔发表这一评论前,法国的一家法院本周作出了一项裁决,据认为这是法院首次在引渡听证会上援引环境作为理由。在这一案件中,一名患有哮喘病的孟加拉男子因为本国污染极为严重而免于被法国驱逐出境。他的律师辩护称,以他的身体条件在引渡回国后可能会病情加重甚至过早死亡。
The appeals court in Bordeaux overturned an expulsion order against the 40-year-old man because he would face "a worsening of his respiratory pathology due to air pollution" in his country of origin.
波尔多的上诉法院推翻了对这名40岁男子的驱逐令,因为他在孟加拉国将面临“空气污染导致的哮喘病恶化”。
Yale and Columbia universities' environmental performance index ranks Bangladesh 179th in the world for air quality in 2020, while the concentration of fine particles in the air is six times the World Health Organization's recommended maximum.
耶鲁大学和哥伦比亚大学发布的环境绩效指数中,孟加拉的空气质量在全球排名第179位。孟加拉空气中的细颗粒物浓度是世界卫生组织最大建议值的6倍。
Dr David R Boyd, UN special rapporteur on human rights and environment, agreed with Mehta's analysis, telling the Guardian: "Air pollution causes 7 million premature deaths annually, so it is understandable if people feel compelled to migrate in search of clean air to safeguard their health. Air pollution is a global public health disaster that does not get the attention it deserves because most of the people who die are poor or otherwise vulnerable."
联合国人权和环境特别调查员戴维·R·博伊德博士同意梅塔的分析,他告诉《卫报》说:“空气污染每年导致700万人过早死亡,所以如果人们为了守卫自身健康而被迫移民到空气干净的地方是可以理解的。空气污染这一全球性的公共卫生灾难没有得到应有的重视,因为多数死于空气污染的人都是穷人或体弱者。”
Alex Randall, coordinator at the Climate and Migration Coalition, said safe and legal routes to allow people to migrate needed to be established.
气候与移民联盟的协调员亚历克斯·兰德尔表示,需要建立允许人们移民的安全合法的途径。
"Cases such as this, where air quality or other pollution become a reason for preventing deportation, are certainly important steps forward.
“空气质量或其他污染成为避免被驱逐出境的理由,像这样的案例当然是前进路上的重要步伐。”
"However, these cases do not usually set legal precedents and people moving across borders due to climate change impacts remain in a legal grey area."
“但是,这些案例通常不会被作为合法先例,所以人们受气候变化影响而移民依然处于法律的灰色地带。”
According to the Environmental Justice Foundation, one person every 1.3 seconds is forced to leave their homes and communities due to the climate crisis but millions lack legal protection. It has called on all countries to rapidly and fully implement the Paris climate agreement.
环境正义基金会称,每1.3秒钟就有一个人迫于气候危机而离开家乡,其中数百万人缺少法律保护。该基金会呼吁所有国家迅速全面地执行《巴黎气候协定》。
A ruling by the United Nations human rights committee a year ago found it is unlawful for governments to return people to countries where their lives might be threatened by the climate crisis.
联合国人权委员会一年前作出裁决,指出政府将人们遣返回气候危机可能危及生命的来源国是不合法的。
Tens of millions of people are expected to be displaced by global heating in the next decade.
未来十年预计有数以千万计的人会因为全球变暖而移民。