Review article

https://doi.org/10.17234/SocEkol.35.2.4

Refugees and climate-change-related migrants: A conceptual distinction

Anatolii Getman orcid.org/0000-0002-1987-2760 ; Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University *
Volodymyr Shekhovtsov ; Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University
Volodymyr Steshenko orcid.org/0000-0002-1010-0123 ; Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University
Oleh Tarasov orcid.org/0000-0002-9070-5965 ; Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University
Svitlana Kozar ; Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University

* Corresponding author.

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to draw a legal distinction between the concept of refugees and climate-induced migrants through basic legal analysis, thereafter developing a legislative model for the protection of people displaced due to climate change outside the framework of refugee status based on international human rights law and regulatory approaches by the European Union. This research was carried out in 2024–2025 as doctrinal and analytical legal research based on purposively selected non-random samples from international and EU law plus quasi-judicial decisions. It reconstructs within positive law parameters the refugee institution under the 1951 Convention together with its 1967 Protocol and systematically identifies the legal limits of its applicability to climate-induced displacement without recourse to expansive interpretation. Findings demonstrate that core structural elements of refugee status are primarily related to persecution by the state of citizenship or the state of residence. It has been shown that effective protection for people displaced by climate change lies outside refugee law in primary international human rights law through an autonomous application of non-refoulement when there is a real risk of serious harm. In this regard, based on the principle of the best interests of the child, special attention should be paid to protecting the rights of child climate migrants and child refugees. Analysis of the EU normative framework presents current European approaches as partially aligned with international standards but simultaneously exposes structural limitations of the existing asylum model in addressing climate-induced displacement. The results are also relevant for national legal systems undergoing post-conflict and accession-related transformation. The findings contribute to the development of international migration law doctrine, to the improvement of EU law enforcement practices, and to national approaches to future legal adaptation.

Keywords

best interests of the child; children’s rights; human rights; non-refoulement; refugees

Hrčak ID:

349740

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/349740

Publication date:

24.7.2026.

Article data in other languages: croatian german

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