Australia announced on Friday that residents of the Tuvalu archipelago will be able to benefit from “special” rights to settle and work in the country, under a treaty made public by the two states.
Australia has just announced an agreement with the Tuvalu Islands to welcome 280 climate refugees per year, “Europe is also considering dealing with these migrations, but the public debate is not ripe”estimates Friday, November 10 on franceinfo, political scientist François Gemenne, specialist in climate governance and migration.
The agreement consists of the reception of 280 refugees from Tuvalu per year by Australia, which has also offered aid of 9.5 million euros to help Tuvalu consolidate its coastline, hit hard by the rise waters. It also provides for a military commitment from Australia in the event of military aggression against Tuvalu and a right of veto from Canberra over military agreements concluded by the archipelago with other countries.
franceinfo: This agreement is not just philanthropy on the part of Australia?
François Gemenne: It’s a proposal that Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made more than 15 years ago, so it’s probably close to his heart… But of course, values are aligned with interests and it’s not pure philanthropy. There is a struggle for influence with China in the region, and Tuvalu is a country very courted by China as part of the new Silk Roads. It is also a political change because until then, it was mainly New Zealand which signed this type of agreement, Australia was until now more focused on South-East Asia.
Can this type of agreement be imagined with other States?
We can imagine that this type of agreement is the start of a long series, there are many other island states in the region which are in this situation, with more inhabitants, such as Kiribati.
Would Europe benefit from thinking about this climate refugee status?
Europe is also considering addressing these migrations, but the public debate is not ripe. When we look at the main countries of origin of asylum seekers in France, we find Pakistan and Bangladesh which are two countries on the front line of climate change. And some of the economic migrants in Europe could already be called climate migrants because they are migrations linked to climate instability which, for example, threatens harvests in rural areas.
The collision between immigration and climate change is striking, and in France, the new bill which claims to re-examine the subject does not say a word about these migrations linked to climate change.